Soldiers Jump From Crashing Philippine C-130

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At least 50 people, including 42 combat soldiers, were killed in the crash of a Philippine Air Force C-130 in the southern part of the country on Sunday. Three of the dead were civilians on the ground. Initial reports suggest the aircraft, an ex-USAF Herc that was recently transferred to the Philippine military, overran the runway at Jolo Airport in Sulu Province. At least 49 people, including the flight crew, survived the crash. Some of the soldiers reportedly jumped out of the aircraft while it was still in the air in a possible overshoot attempt. “A number of soldiers were seen jumping out of the aircraft before it hit the ground, sparing them from the explosion caused by the crash,” a military statement said.

There were a total of 96 people on board, including three pilots and five crew. The rest were army soldiers, most of them new recruits, being dispatched to fight militants in the area. The plane was one of two former USAF aircraft recently given to the Philippines as part of U.S. support for the country’s long battle with Abu Sayyaf militants in that area. A military spokesman said it appears something went wrong during landing on the short runway at Jolo and the crew was trying to go around. “The plane missed the runway and it was trying to regain power but failed and crashed,” said Lt. Gen. Corleto Vinluan. The transport ended up in a coconut grove where it exploded and was mostly consumed by the post-crash fire.

Russ Niles
Russ Niles is Editor-in-Chief of AVweb. He has been a pilot for 30 years and joined AVweb 22 years ago. He and his wife Marni live in southern British Columbia where they also operate a small winery.

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2 COMMENTS

  1. 49 people jumped out & survived – it says.
    I’m confused – was this an over run crash?

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