An Air Force Hercules Goes Down Amid the Mindanao Conflict

Written on Tuesday, August 26th, 2008 at 3:45 pm | by Ding G. Gagelonia

The Philippine Air Force has lost one of its prized assets, a Lockheed C-130  medium lift transport.

The limited-detail reports are saying the multi-role plane could have gone down in bad weather early last night in the Davao Gulf with 9 crew members aboard.

Ironically the Hercules was simply on a routine shuttle trip to Iloilo. Its intended passengers: men from the Presidential Security Group.

Why did such a valuable asset have to be used to shuttle PSG men to Iloilo instead of them being booked on the numerous commercial flights between Iloilo and Manila?

To save on money? This while more expensive chartered flights are booked regularly for junketing government VIPs and hangers-on on courtesy of Juan dela Cruz and funded through contingency and pork barrel kitties?

Why does the already ill-equipped Air Force have to lose a Hercules right in the middle of the conflict in Mindanao for a mundane task when d mercy missions are surely in high demand?

Just recently in Basilan a seriously wounded Marine died as he waited for a helicopter that authorities even had to borrow from the US military.

One more reason why ‘collateral damage’ from the conflict is rising

As of 2:30 p.m. the Air Force is reporting that a fisherman has pointed to the possible area where the Hercules went down and that combat boots and pieces of human remains have been found.

A disturbing statement from authorities is that they cannot, as yet, the rule out the possibility that the plane which was about 1,500 meters in the air “could have been shot down by rebel elements.”

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About The Author: Ding G. Gagelonia is a journalist of some 30 years, having worked in both radio and TV news and public affairs since his teens. Ding Gagelonia now writes independently and does corporate communications consulting. He has two kids, Felice and Luis. His journalist blog is at midfield.wordpress.com

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8 Responses to “An Air Force Hercules Goes Down Amid the Mindanao Conflict”

  1. Jon Limjap on August 26th, 2008 6:21 pm

    Not to condone/defend the the detail of the PSG using the C-130s, but the C-130 is based in Jesus Villamor AFB in Pasay City, thus they probably thought that making the Iloilo stopover would be non-issue because the plane will make its way back to Manila using that route anyway.

    Coincidentally, yesterday a C-130 landed at Lumbia Airport in Cagayan de Oro while we were waiting to board our flight to Manila. Around 30 soldiers disembarked, and unloaded what appeared to be mortar tubes. The C-130 took off ahead of our PAL flight to Manila — the sky was dark by that time (it was only 4 pm) and fog and rain has already covered the mountains to the southwest (presumably, Lanao del Norte).

    I was shocked to find out about the crash, but based on the news reports it is unclear if it had been the plane that we saw at CDO.

  2. the jester-in-exile on August 26th, 2008 8:50 pm

    1,500 m is well within the range of a man-portable SAM.

  3. Ding G. Gagelonia on August 26th, 2008 10:23 pm

    Jester,

    The incident surely merits a deep investigation as some account say the plane appeared to have been struck by what looked like ‘a bolt of lightning’.

    Makes anyone really winder as the storm, ‘Lawin’ is quite a distance away, off Catanduanes.

  4. Jon Limjap on August 27th, 2008 3:51 pm

    Ding,

    Being in the area that afternoon, I can attest that there was an intense lightning storm that was occurring as of 4pm, south of Cagayan de Oro City. I myself was worried that lightning might strike our plane.

    The weather was bad enough such that our pilot flew at 32,000 feet, most likely above the weather, as opposed to the 29,000 feet we took on our trip there from Manila.

  5. AdB on August 27th, 2008 9:57 pm

    I may be wrong but given the prevailing war footing status of the MILF against the Republic, not to speak of their firepower, I wouldn’t be surprised at all today if the aircraft had not been a victim of a missile attack.

    The crash undoubtedly will lead us to various speculations, i.e., terror attack, sabotage, engine failure, pilot error, weather perturbations etc., but there was something in Philstar’s report that caught my attention.

    The report said that witnesses saw the aircraft “going down into the sea with flames on one of the wings”.

    The wings of a C-130 are its volatile spot, because that’s where the engines are, to which a VSHORAD infra-red heat seeking missile could lock on instantly.

  6. Jon Limjap on August 27th, 2008 10:19 pm

    @Adb

    A lightning strike could have done that as well, so until more evidence surfaces (e.g., a confirmed firing of SAMs against PAF OV-10s that continue to bomb MILF positions) then that will remain to be speculation.

    If it later appears, however, that the MILF has acquired AA capability, then this war has just entered a whole new level.

  7. AdB on August 27th, 2008 10:37 pm

    @Jon Limjap,

    Agree. It’s pure speculation on my part.

    As to MILF anti air weapons capability, there’s no reason why they couldn’t have acquired such capability. There’s been “suspicions” from way back in 1996 that rebel groups had them in their arsenal. They are cheap weaponry, particularly the Pakistani and Chinese versions.

    On top of which, the MILF’s purported JI links could have easily been a source.

  8. the jester-in-exile on August 28th, 2008 9:40 pm

    at the risk of fueling even more speculation, perhaps we can consider the possibility that the NPA and MILF terrorists have not employed anti-air capability as a deliberate strategy, a means to avoid having the whole world fall on them.

    as i think jon implies, the employment of anti-air capability would ensure that the fall of the hammer would be heavier.

    (not that i mind; i even hope that armageddon finally happens to them. the NPA and the MILF have been terrorizing the rural areas for far too long.)

    oh, and for the record, i’ve never been an advocate of war — it should be the LAST option, as it’s the WORST.

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