Crashed C-130 flight recording to be known soon —PAF spox

Philippine Air Force spokesperson Colonel Maynard Mariano on Saturday said the PAF is expecting the recordings from the black box of the C-130 aircraft that crashed in Patikul, Sulu will be analyzed in less than a month.

“Wala pang isang buwan ang hihintayin po natin (we'll wait less than a month) for the black box recording to be analyzed," Mariano said during the Laging Handa briefing.

According to him, the flight data recorder of the plane has been sent to the United States for analysis.

Earlier, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief General Cirilito Sobejana said the black box needed to be sent to the US because the Philippines has no capability of opening and analyzing the flight data records.

Meanwhile, PAF's Mariano reiterated that it's still too early to announce what caused the plane to crash, but he assured the public that the AFP is “doing everything to fast-track the investigation.”

Further, he disclosed that parts of the C-130 plane will be sent to Mactan, Cebu to reconstruct the aircraft, and determine possible prior “events”  that could have caused the tragedy. 

“Ang recovery ay 100 percent na natapos. Dadalhin natin sa Mactan kung saan bubuuin ang eroplano at ire-reconstruct po natin. At titingnan po natin ang events na puwede pong nangyari sa eroplano,” Mariano said.

(The recovery of the aircraft's parts has been completed. Then, we will ship them to Mactan, Cebu where it will be reconstructed, and checked for possible events that happened prior to the crash.)

The C-130 took off from Cagayan de Oro City, carrying troops to Sulu. It crashed before noon on Sunday (July 4) after missing the runway in Barangay Bangkal, Patikul, Sulu.

On Friday, the AFP said it has identified 20 of the troops who died in the tragedy. —LBG/KG, GMA News