Fate of 3 ill-fated C-130 pilots still unknown
BANGSAMORO NEWS UPDATES • 17:30 PM Sun Jul 4, 2021
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By:
John M. Unson
Photo courtesy Armed Forces of the Philippines/Western Mindanao Command
COTABATO CITY --- The fate of the three pilots of the C-130 plane that crashed near the airport in Jolo town in Sulu is still unknown as of presstime.
Seventeen passengers were killed while 42 others were badly hurt when an Air Force C-130 plane crashed near the Jolo airport in Sulu province Sunday, reports reaching the Bangsamoro capitol here said.
Sulu is a component-province of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
The C-130 plane with tail number 5125 was piloted by Major Emmanuel Makalintal, along with a certain Major Michael Benolirao and a junior officer named Lt. Tato.
There is no confirmation yet if the three of them survived the crash.
Most of the passengers of the ill-fated plane were newly-conscripted privates for deployment to Sulu from the Philippine Army’s 11th Infantry Division.
Reports obtained from the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region (PRO-BAR) stated that the C-130 Hercules plane was on its descent to the Jolo airport but veered and crashed on a residential area in Barangay Bangcal in Patikul town.
Sources from the Sulu provincial police and the military-led anti-terror Joint Task Force Sulu said the crash site is about two kilometers from the airport runway.
The plane had 92 passengers onboard, according to the sources.
Lawyer Naguib Sinarimbo, local government minister of BARMM, said the Sulu Integrated Provincial Health Office is extending needed medical support to the injured plane passengers.
Sulu is one of the five provinces of BARMM that also covers Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur, both in mainland Mindanao, Basilan and Tawi-Tawi.
