PAF starts analyzing parts of crashed Nomad plane

The Philippine Air Force has started analyzing parts of the Nomad plane that crashed last Thursday, killing eight military personnel and a civilian on the ground in Cotabato City.

PAF spokesman Lt. Col. Gerardo Zamudio Jr. said on Sunday that some of the body parts of the crashed plane were brought to Mactan Air Base in Cebu, and that a report on the analysis will likely due next week.

“Ayaw naman natin sila diktahan. Sila ang nakakaalam ng requirements. Gusto natin masiguro pag sinabi nila ito ang problema, iyan ang problema (Hopefully we can get an initial report by next week. We don’t want to dictate on our investigators, they know what to look for. We want to make sure that if they find the cause of the crash, it will be a definite finding)," Zamudio said in an interview on dzBB radio.

According to Zamudio, the findings would be compared to the testimonies of at least 15 witnesses, as well as records of conversations between the plane’s pilot and the control tower.

He said parts of the crashed Nomad plane arrived in Mactan Air Base at about 6 p.m. last Saturday, and that investigators started analyzing them immediately.

While most instruments were destroyed and the plane had no black box, Zamudio said the propeller was found relatively intact.

“Yung instruments di na mapakinabangan dahil nasunog. Pero nakita ang propeller, ito'y magbibigay ng magandang information sa ginagawa nilang investigation (The instruments were totally destroyed and are likely useless in the investigation, but our investigators noted that the propeller is relatively intact, and may help in their work)," he said.

“Walang black box (pero) ang conversation between pilot and the tower, material ito, input ito sa investigation (There was no black box but the conversation between the pilot and tower will be material to the investigation)," he added.

He also discounted the angle of sabotage, saying the pilot managed to radio the tower and confirm they were experiencing an emergency situation.

“When the pilot was asked if they were in an emergency situation, (the word the pilot used) is ‘confirmed,’" he said.

On the other hand, Zamudio said that while the there is a P5-billion-per-year military modernization program, “we must understand" that the government has no money and is working with a deficit.

“Ang proseso natin napaka-tedious (The processes involved in getting new equipment for the military are tedious)," he added.

The ill-fated plane was on its way to Zamboanga City when it crashed shortly before Thursday noon. It crashed into at least three houses and immediately burst into flames.

In an earlier interview on GMA News' Unang Hirit, Zamudio said that there are three factors that could cause a plane to crash: human error, environmental conditions, and material factor.

For the Nomad plane crash, an 18-man team from the Air Force is now investigating the accident. - LBG, GMANews.TV