Sun Star Manila September 06, 2008
C-130 wreckage found off southern Davao
DAVAO CITY -- The wreckage of the ill-fated Philippine Air Force (PAF) C-130 Hercules plane that crashed into Davao Gulf on August 25 was finally found, an official said Friday.
Lieutenant Colonel Edgard Arevalo, the Philippine Navy's spokesman, said the US Navy oceanographic survey ship USNS John McDonnell found the wreckage late Thursday at a depth of 426 feet (129.84 meters).
It took images of the wreckage with sonar equipment.
He said that large parts of the C-130 plane were found 1.3 nautical miles (2.4 kilometers) east of Barangay Bucana, this city.
Data from Eastern Mindanao Command also showed that the wreckage was located at latitude 07 degrees 4.01 minutes north, longitude 125 degrees 38 minutes east, off southern Davao City.
The vicinity of the crash had been located earlier, but not the actual wreckage.
Arevalo's statement and data from Eastern Mindanao Command was officially confirmed by US Embassy spokesperson Rebecca Thompson in a telephone call Friday.
"The USNS John MacDonnell was indeed able to locate the wreckage site and we already provided the Philippine authorities the coordinates," Ms. Thompson said.
"Having completed its mission for an oceanographic survey, it left today (Friday)," she added.
With the wreckage of C-130 plane now officially found, authorities are hoping to salvage it from the ocean floor.
"Now that we have identified its location, the next issue is how are we going to get it or refloat it," Arevalo said.
Arevalo added that salvagers with the necessary equipment might be sought because neither the Philippine Navy nor the McDonnell have the capability to refloat the plane.
The USNS John MacDonnell was allowed to enter Philippine waters after its help was sought to locate the wreckage in the Davao Gulf. It arrived last Monday and immediately went to work.
Being a US navy ship, it has to report its findings directly to the US Embassy, as international protocol dictates.
The discovery came after almost five days of search by the US ship and almost two weeks by the Philippine authorities.
The location of the plane was approximately where fishermen and a tugboat operator were pointing to as soon as news about the crash broke out.
However, the local search headed by the Philippine Navy in Davao City lacked the sophisticated equipment that the navy ship was rigged with.
McDonnel is one of two oceanographic ships surveying the sea bottom to gather hydrographic data "charting three-fourth of the world's coastlines," an entry about the ship in GlobalSecurity.org reads. The other ship is USNS Littelhales.
Designed to study the world's oceans, the sonar systems on these survey ships allow it to "continuously chart a broad strip of ocean floor."
PAF C-130 Hercules plane crashed shortly after take off from Davao International Airport en route to central Iloilo city on August 25, killing nine crew on board and two army soldiers who had hitched a ride.
Fishermen found body parts, a torn uniform, combat boots and other debris near the crash site the next day.
PAF chief Lieutenant General Pedrito Cadungog, however, would not speculate on the cause of the crash, which came amid an ongoing military offensive against Moro rebels in three nearby provinces.
The plane had just flown fresh troops to Davao for the offensive.
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