AFP ruling out foul play in deadly C-130 crash 'at the moment,' says spox

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on Monday said it is ruling out any foul play in Sunday's crash of one of its C-130 aircraft in Sulu that killed 50 people, most of them soldiers.

“At the moment, looking at the circumstances that we have at hand and the information that we know, we are ruling out any foul play,” AFP spokesperson Major General Edgard Arevalo told CNN Philippines.

According to Arevalo, the aircraft landed on the right side of the runway at sufficient speed. Why it missed the runway is the subject of the investigation, he added.

Arevalo said the condition of the facility including the runway, equipment, weather, and skills of the pilots will be included in the investigation.

In a press conference, he said "tested pilots" will assist in the investigation to determine the reason behind the crash.

“But what is yet to be determined is what caused the aircraft to go out of the runway. This is going to be determined by a select group of tested pilots who will be the one to assist in the conduct of the investigation,” he added.

The AFP will also look into the blackbox or the flight data recorder that will help the investigation.

Asked about the speculation on overloading, Arevalo said they have to wait for the result of the investigation to confirm if the flight really exceeded the desired number of passengers.

The Philippine Air Force plane crashed at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday as it was making a landing in Barangay Bangkal, Patikul.

According to Arevalo, at least 47 military personnel and three civilians on the ground were killed in the crash. —KBK, GMA News