Air Force finalizes report on 2 crashes

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / RICHARD A. REYES

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Air Force (PAF) has concluded its investigation into the air mishaps involving a C-130 Hercules plane and a Black Hawk helicopter early this year.

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said on Wednesday that the C-130 Hercules aircraft crash was caused by a “confluence of many events” while the Black Hawk helicopter was basically downed by bad weather.

In Wednesday’s hearing of the House of Representatives committee on appropriations, Lorenzana said the PAF was finalizing its final reports on the two air mishaps and would submit them to the committee within 24 hours or by Thursday.

The defense secretary said he received a briefing on the PAF’s findings on Tuesday night.

According to Lorenzana, “For the C-130 aircraft, it’s defective instruments or systems plus, of course, the reaction of the pilot was not appropriate to the emergency so it crashed.”

The July 4 C-130 aircraft crash killed 53 people, 50 of them Army troopers and PAF personnel.

“For the Black Hawk, (it’s) bad weather. The helicopter entered some clouds and (the flight crew) had vertigo and lost their sense of direction. So that caused the crash,” the defense secretary said.

All six PAF officers on board were killed. The crashed Sikorsky S-70i Black Hawk helicopter was part of the first batch of five choppers delivered in November last year.

—JEANNETTE I. ANDRADE