AFP: ‘Material, human, environment’ factors caused deadly Sulu C-130 crash

The Armed Forces of the Philippines  (AFP) on Thursday said material, human, and environmental factors caused the C-130 crash in Sulu in July that killed over 50 people.

In a statement, the AFP cited the result of the probe conducted by the Philippine Air Force Accident Investigation Board into the incident.

“It was most probably due to actual or perceived material factors, and induced human factors which were aggravated by local and environment conditions,” the AFP said.

“The aircraft component, the environmental condition and aircrew response led to unrecoverable stall in a critical phase of the aircraft operation,” it added.

According to the AFP, the investigating team’s report said no single factor can be attributed to have exclusively caused the accident.

On Wednesday, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said the crash was due to the defective instruments of the aircraft and the inappropriate reaction of the pilot.

During the House budget hearing on the proposed P297,136,636,000 budget of the Defense Department, Lorenzana also cited the report of the Philippine Air Force.

“The way it was briefed to me last night is that it was actually a confluence of many events,” he said. “One, for the C-130, is defective instruments or systems. Plus, of course, the reaction of the pilot was not also appropriate for the emergency, so nag-crash.” 

On July 4, the ill-fated C-130 crashed in Barangay Bangkal in Patikul after failing to land at the airport.

The death toll due to the crash was at 53, broken down to 50 soldiers and three civilians. Meanwhile, 46 servicemen and four civilians were injured.

Most of the fatalities in the crash were burned beyond recognition.

On August 20, the Armed Forces of the Philippines said it already identified all the 50 soldiers who died in the crash. — RSJ, GMA News