Nomad planes grounded

Philippine Air Force (PAF) chief Lt. Gen. Nestor Santillan ordered yesterday the grounding of all N-22 Nomad planes following Monday’s crash of a PAF light transport plane of its type some 100 meters from the shoreline of La Vista del Mar Beach Resort in Upper Calarian, Zamboanga City.

There are 14 Nomad planes in the PAF fleet.

Lifting of the ground order, according to a statement released by PAF, will depend on the result of the investigation being conducted by a team sent to the crash site to probe into the cause of the accident.

All 13 passengers who survived the crash have been undergoing treatment at the Camp Navarro General Hospital inside the Southern Command headquarters but are in stable condition.

Based on the latest report, the aircraft was still submerged in water and tied to the shoreline to avoid being washed away by the strong current. Recovery efforts resume today with the Navy leading the operations.

Brig. Gen. Rodante Joya, chief of the 220th Airlift Wing, denied allegations that the cause of the tragedy was overload.

"It was not overload, the mere fact that the plane glided and safely ditched," he said, adding that their job right now is to recover the aircraft so that investigation can be speeded up and determine the real cause of the accident.

In a statement, PAF authorities lauded the skills and presence of mind of the pilots. "It could have been a fatal accident had they not skillfully maneuvered the plane and ditched it on the water rather than landing it on ground where it could hit big trees," the report said.

Last week, the Air Force also grounded all its 24 Marchetti-type training planes after one of them crashed in a computer chips factory in Sto, Tomas, Batangas, killing its two pilots and a factory worker.

As this developed, Senate Majority Leader Loren Legarda called on the military, particularly the Air Force, to improve its system of checking the airworthiness of its aircraft.

A lieutenant colonel in the reserve corps of the Air Force, Legarda said that more than the planes and equipment, the true assets of PAF are its dedicated men and women, who should not be exposed to unnecessary danger through the use of faulty equipment.

"The twin crashes mirror the deplorable state of our air force," admitted Legarda. "What these crashes tell us is that the modernization of the air force is long overdue."

Last year, PAF also grounded its F-5 fighter planes after an F-5 slammed on a school ground in Mabalacat, Pampanga.

The PAF has a total of some 300 aircraft of various types, more than half of which are grounded either because they are beyond repair or awaiting spare parts.

Air Force authorities have been hoping that the much-awaited modernization program would soon become a reality to finally dispose of the so-called "flying coffins" in its hangar and make flying safer for Air Force soldiers.