Black boxes from ill-fated C-130 to be sent to US for review

This photo circulating on social media and also among top military officers in Mindanao shows scene at the site in Barangay Bangkal of Patikul, Sulu, where the C-130 plane that left Lumbia airport earlier in the morning crashed at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday, July 4, killing at least 59 people, a military source said. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — The flight data and cockpit voice recorders from the Philippine Air Force plane that crashed over the weekend will be sent to the United States for review, Armed Forces chief Gen. Cirilito Sobejana said Wednesday.

The black boxes, which were retrieved on Monday, were already with the investigators, the AFP chief said in a televised interview with GMA News.

“Wala tayong kakayahan locally na buksan at tingnan ang nilalaman. Ipapadala natin ito sa Amerika at nakausap na natin ang ating counterparts,” Sobejana said.

(We do not have the capability to open it and review. We will send it to America and we have already talked to our counterparts.)

The US side committed to immediately assess it when they receive it, he said, adding that it will shed more light on the tragic incident.

According to interactive library Skybrary, an FDR records aircraft performance parameters such as airspeed, time, altitude, heading and aircraft altitude.

The ill-fated Lockheed C-130 transport aircraft was bound for Sulu to bring Army recruits to help fight Abu Sayyaf, a homegrown terror group with ties to Islamic State which found a stronghold in the province.

A total of 53 people were confirmed killed so far — 50 of the 96 passengers on board the C-130 plane and three local residents.

Dozens were being treated in various hospitals.

EDV