Debris found after Philippines Air Force plane goes missing
Posted
A C-130 military cargo plane with two pilots and seven crew aboard is believed to have crashed in the southern Philippines.
Air Force spokesman Major Gerardo Zamudio says rescuers and fishermen have found debris apparently from the plane in the sea off the southern Philippines after it went missing late on Monday (local time).
"We have received reports from our tactical operations group in Davao that they have found debris near one village," Mr Zamudio said.
Fishermen in the coastal town of Agdao have also retrieved combat boots and parts of a plane in the sea, radio reports said.
Officials are yet to confirm the debris is from the 41-year-old Lockheed Martin aircraft, which lost contact with air traffic control two minutes after taking off from the Davao international airport on southern Mindanao island.
The Air Force says it has not discounted the possibility that it was attacked or sabotaged by Muslim separatist rebels fighting Government troops on the island.
Witnesses heard a loud explosion shortly after it took off, Philippine Air Force chief Lieutenant-General Pedrito Cadungog says, adding the incident is "very puzzling" and that it is highly unusual for such a large plane to go missing without a trace.
The aircraft was bound for the central city of Iloilo to pick up members of President Gloria Arroyo's security team and return them to Manila, Lieutenant-General Cadungog said.
He says a search is underway using three military helicopters, and rescuers are checking the reports of a loud explosion over Davao shortly after the plane took off.
- AFP
