Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 6) — The black box of the military plane that crashed in Sulu on Sunday has been found, the chief of the armed forces disclosed on Tuesday.
This flight data recorder could help determine the cause of the incident in the town of Patikul, which is one of the deadliest military air disasters in at least four decades.
Officials on Monday night said the death toll from the crash increased to 52 after the remains of two earlier missing soldiers were recovered.
The tragedy left 49 military personnel dead and 47 other soldiers injured, while three civilians on the ground were killed and four others injured.
“Maririnig natin from that black box kung ano iyong last conversation ng mga pilots and crew sa cockpit,” AFP chief Gen. Cirilito Sobejana told CNN Philippines’ The Source.
[Translation: We will hear from the black box what the last conversation of the pilots and crew members from the cockpit was.]
Areas within the one-kilometer radius of the crash site have been cordoned off while the investigation is underway, the official also said.
Sobejana said he has instructed the investigators to finish the probe “as fast as they can, but they should be very deliberate.”
Eyewitnesses gave different versions of the incident, the AFP chief added.
He quoted one survivor as saying that the plane bounced three times. After the third bounce, the aircraft seemed to have “zigzagged.”
The pilot then tried to “regain power” to lift the plane but failed, Sobejana said. The aircraft slammed into a tree before crashing, he added.
Some survivors said the aircraft has only one landing gear, but this observation may only be based on their line of sight, according to Sobejana.
