Wait for black box
Published Jul 8, 2021 12:12 am
MEDIUM RARE
Jullie Y. Daza
Let’s not fly off the handle and blame “pilot error” for the crash of the C-130 military transport aircraft that killed 50 soldiers and injured scores of others, including three civilians who were on the ground, on the path of the plane when it fell from the sky.
As a former aviation worker tells it, “It’s easy to blame someone who’s not around to dispute your theories.” For one thing, the black box of the ill-fated plane is on its way to or already in the US to be analyzed for flight data and conversations between pilot and control tower moments before the crash.
Glued to the TV coverage on all channels, the viewer could not help but form the impression that while floating the theory of pilot error, the same people who were willing to provide information or their personal or professional opinions were not inclined to bring up mechanical failure as a factor. All they kept saying was that it was a “new” plane, having been delivered from the US to the Air Force only last January, with 11,000 flying hours to go before its next overhaul. But a new plane is not always thoroughly new as “new” could also refer only to the newness of the engine, especially for a workhorse like the C-130 that was first manufactured in 1954. According to a TV-5 report, the one we lost in Sulu was 1987 vintage.
One or two officials wondered if the plane was overloaded. With 97 passengers on board, what this viewer failed to catch – or maybe the question was never asked – was whether any mention was made of the plane’s cargo. It was a military transport plane, so what was it carrying?
Asked if their loved ones had any messages for them before they boarded the plane, two relatives told reporters, “May problema ang eroplano” (the airplane had a problem), which was why, they said, the flight was delayed. Expressed in exactly the same words, their eerily and similarly spontaneous replies were carried on two different channels and aired at different times on prime time last Tuesday. What these two independent sources stated was short and simple. With no rancor, no emotion except a blank look of loss on their faces.
Jullie Y. Daza
Let’s not fly off the handle and blame “pilot error” for the crash of the C-130 military transport aircraft that killed 50 soldiers and injured scores of others, including three civilians who were on the ground, on the path of the plane when it fell from the sky.
As a former aviation worker tells it, “It’s easy to blame someone who’s not around to dispute your theories.” For one thing, the black box of the ill-fated plane is on its way to or already in the US to be analyzed for flight data and conversations between pilot and control tower moments before the crash.
Glued to the TV coverage on all channels, the viewer could not help but form the impression that while floating the theory of pilot error, the same people who were willing to provide information or their personal or professional opinions were not inclined to bring up mechanical failure as a factor. All they kept saying was that it was a “new” plane, having been delivered from the US to the Air Force only last January, with 11,000 flying hours to go before its next overhaul. But a new plane is not always thoroughly new as “new” could also refer only to the newness of the engine, especially for a workhorse like the C-130 that was first manufactured in 1954. According to a TV-5 report, the one we lost in Sulu was 1987 vintage.
One or two officials wondered if the plane was overloaded. With 97 passengers on board, what this viewer failed to catch – or maybe the question was never asked – was whether any mention was made of the plane’s cargo. It was a military transport plane, so what was it carrying?
Asked if their loved ones had any messages for them before they boarded the plane, two relatives told reporters, “May problema ang eroplano” (the airplane had a problem), which was why, they said, the flight was delayed. Expressed in exactly the same words, their eerily and similarly spontaneous replies were carried on two different channels and aired at different times on prime time last Tuesday. What these two independent sources stated was short and simple. With no rancor, no emotion except a blank look of loss on their faces.