CASE REPORT OF 5125 C-

130H CRASH LANDING IN

PATIKUL SULU 2021
Group 4

OCTOBER 23, 2021

BERINO, PETER
BERMUDEZ, JOHRIEL H.
CABANEZ, RALPH JOSHUA
CASTILLO, SEAN
SAFTY 100 - A31
Background of the study

Airplanes have been used for many years to transport cargo and passengers. The airplane or
plane (informally airplane) is the powered, fixed-wing aircraft propelled forward by force from
the plane engine, propeller, or rocket engine. Planes get in a variety of sizes, shapes, and wing
shapes. The wide range of functions for airplanes includes recreation, transport of goods and
people, personnel, and research. Worldwide, the trade industry transports more than four
billion passengers yearly on airliners and transports more than 200 billion ton-kilometers of
freight, which constitutes not as much as 1 percent of this world's cargo movement.
Military forces are also using airplanes either for transportation or for war purposes. Most of
the time, they used this aircraft to carry out their missions. Some of the primary military
operations involved the use of airplanes. These include • air transport, sea transport • land
transport. Delivering Ammos or equipment that they are going to use to fight their enemies.
Even with a system that makes the airplane stable, there are still bad parts that an airplane has;
failing to manage its flight system can cause a severe tragedy. Most of the plane crashes that
happen in the world are the result of human error. Being overloaded or not checking the plane
before using it is the common reason behind the hits. In addition, it is hazardous for pilots to be
flying at high speeds. If they don't check their safety measures, then they can crash the plane.
Dealing with this kind of problems are sure stressing because people's lives are in risk here.

This case study focuses on the accident that took place on Philippines in Sulu. The aircraft C-130
Hercules given by the United States earlier before the incident happened was owned and used
by the AFP or Armed Forces of the Philippines to transport nearly 100 soldiers; most of the
soldiers are fresh graduates. The plane crashed on the airport of Jolo while trying to land.
Dozens of people died, and the number of deaths is still unclear and keeps increasing. This
paper aims to study what caused the flight to fail and what action can be taken to prevent the
accident from happening. Some questions can be a guide. Is it because people overloaded the
plane? Is there is a problem with the system that had not been checked? or because of the
pilot's negligence towards the flight safety measures that led the plane to crash. These
questions are needed to be addressed to have a better understanding of the situation.
According to Wikipedia (2021) C-130 Hercules is an American 4-engine, Lockheed designed,
built and operated military transport aircraft (now Lockheed Martin). The C-130 has been
originally designed as an aircraft for troop, medevac, and cargo transport, capable of using
unprepared runways for take-offs and landings.

Is the C-130h cargo plane overloaded?

The aircraft was scheduled on July 4, 2021, to transport almost 100 soldiers to the airport of
Jolo in Sulu. The Aircraft C-130H is very fit for cargo transport and mainly used for delivering
equipment or soldiers on the battlefield. It is solid and big enough to hold many passengers and
machine parts at the same time. This is the reason why C-130H is called the best military
aviation equipment in the world. Being overloaded are quite far from a reason to crash a cargo
plane.
According to Manila Bulletin (2021) PDF, Commanding General Lt. Gen. Allen Paredes rejected
the aircraft overload as he noted that it had a maximum passenger capacity of 120. The crashed
C-130 had 96 employees on board: 12 were PAF staff, 84 were troops from the Philippine Army
who were supposed to operate in Sulu for counter-terrorism activities.

Is the Aircraft being in Good Condition?

Every aircraft must always be checked if it is in good or bad condition before takeoff. Every
engine should be in perfect condition, and the internal parts of the aircraft must be checked to
make sure that they are working properly. This would lower the chances of accidents and can
protect the aircraft if the weather is not good. In this case, the C-130H was in good condition
before the flight.
ABS-CBN News (September 2, 2021) stated that earlier this year the country acquired the plane
involved in the event from the U.S. It was not brand-new, it was used by the United States since
1988, but it was very well prepared, and 11,000 flight hours left. Although it is not brand new, it
is still able to fly for many hours.

Are the Pilots being responsible of the Incident?

The pilots are the ones in charge of the flight, they are responsible for all the safety measures.
Safeness of all passengers is the main objective of every pilot. They experience serious training
to achieve their position. There is no evidence that the pilot of C-130H had a negative
background before the flight happened. Asian Military Review (July 8, 2021) states that AFP
confirms the pilot's failing to regain the power and missed the runway. The cause of C-130H
losing power is still not clear.

Despite these questions being addressed, we are still not sure what caused this tragedy. It may
be one of the problems or not. We can only assume that the real cause of the problem is
included in the three situations discussed.

Response by the Government

Philippines moves according to the situation and already send rescue troops on the location of
the crashed plane. According to Wikipedia (2021), A search and rescue operation was carried
out by the Joint Task Force Sulu (JTF Sulu) of the Philippine army to recuperate death and to
help the survivors. Tausug civilians and members of the Geographical Unit of Citizens' Armed
Forces (CAFGU) reportedly also contributed to extracts of the burning crashing site survivors.
The Philippine Army (AFP), the Bangsamoro autonomous region (PRO BAR) Regional Philippine
National Police Office, and the government in Sulu promised military and civilian aid. The
United States has sent a medical emergency unit to help crashed survivors.

Many Organizations have reached out to help the survivors of the incident. It is only right to act
fast and be aware of what is happening to the surroundings.

We must be aware of the small factors that can be considered to affect a certain tragedy. We
also need to know what action or prevention that can be made to stop the crash from
happening. By doing Hazard and Risk assessment, we can identify the risks involved with the
incident. The list below contains all information about Hazard & Risk assessment and Mitigation
done in the incident.
HARD AND RISK ASSESMENT AND MITIGATION DONE.

Hazards Risk and Definition Mitigation / Prevention

Foreign object debris includes
items left in the aircraft
structure during
manufacture/repairs, debris
on the runway and solids
encountered in flight. Such Aircraft and runways should
items can damage engines always be inspected to
Foreign Object Debris and other parts of the aircraft. prevent loose foreign object
A pilot misinformed by a
printed document, reacting to
a faulty instrument or
indicator or following
inaccurate instructions or
information from flight or
ground control can
lose spatial orientation, or Printed information should
make another mistake, and always be clear. Instruments
consequently lead to should always be inspected
Misleading Information accidents or near misses. and calibrated.
The effects of lightning on
traditional metal-covered
aircraft are well understood Pilot must be ready to take
and serious damage from a actions if the aircraft
lightning strike may cause becomes inoperable while in
Lightning electrical failure the air.
A wind shear is a change in
wind speed and/or direction
over a relatively short
distance in the atmosphere.
A microburst is a localized
column of sinking air that
drops down in a
thunderstorm. Both are Pilot must be ready to take
potential weather threats that actions if the aircraft
may cause an aviation becomes inoperable while in
Windshear / Microburst accident. the air.
An engine may fail to function Engine should always be
Engine Failure because of fuel inspected and repaired id if
 starvation , fuel
exhaustion foreign object
damage, mechanical failure
due to metal fatigue,
mechanical failure due to
improper maintenance,
mechanical failure caused by
an original manufacturing
defect in the engine, and pilot needed. Pilot error should be
error avoided
Improper repair procedures
and repairs can cause
structural failures
Composite materials consist
of layers of fibers embedded
in a resin matrix. In some
cases, especially when
subjected to cyclic stress, the
layers of the material
separate from each other and
lose strength. As the failure
develops inside the material,
nothing is shown on the Rigorous inspection
surface; instrument methods and nondestructive
have to be used to detect testing procedures should be
Structural Failure of the
such a material failure done.
Aircraft
Most stalls are a result of the
pilot allowing the airspeed to Pilot should not allow aircraft
be too slow for the particular to stall due to low speed.
weight and configuration at Pilot should increase
Stalling the time. airspeed.
One possible cause of fires in
airplanes is wiring problems Aircraft must always be
that involve intermittent inspected for wiring,
faults, such as wires with electrical, and gas line
breached insulation touching problems. Aircraft should
each other, having water have accessible fire
dripping on them, or short extinguishers inside the
Fire circuits. aircraft.
Bird Strike Bird strike is an aviation term Pilot must be ready to take
for a collision between a bird actions if the aircraft
and an aircraft. Fatal becomes inoperable while in

Human factors
Pilot Fatigue
Piloting while intoxicated
Pilot suicide or murder
Deliberate aircrew inaction
Human factors of Third
parties
accidents have been caused
by both engine failure
following bird ingestion and
bird strikes breaking cockpit
windshields. the air.
The International Civil
Aviation Organization (ICAO)
defines fatigue as "A
physiological state of reduced
mental or physical
performance capability
resulting from sleep loss or
extended wakefulness,
circadian phase, or workload.
The phenomenon places great
risk on the crew and
passengers of an airplane
because it significantly
increases the chance of pilot
error.
Pilots and crew are arrested
Pilot or flight crew members or subject to disciplinary
working while being action for being
intoxicated.  intoxicated on the job
Pilots and air crew must
Suicide by pilots or pilots have be screened for psychological
flown acts of mass murder fitness,
Inaction, omission, failure to
act as required, willful
disregard of safety
procedures, disdain for rules, If one or two crews are
unjustifiable risk-taking by lacking actions other flight
pilots have also led crew should take place to act
to accidents and incidents. responsibly
Unsafe human factors are not
limited to pilot errors. Third
party factors include ground Ground crew and ground
crew mishaps, ground vehicle vehicle operator should
to aircraft collisions and report immediately if they
engineering maintenance had damaged something in
related problems. the aircraft.

Controlled flight into terrain
Electromagnetic Interference
Ground Damage
Terrorism
Controlled flight into terrain is
a class of accidents in which
an aircraft is flown under
control into terrain or man-
made structures. CFIT
accidents typically result from
pilot error or of navigational
system error. Failure to Controlled Flight or auto-pilot
protect ILS critical areas can should not be used into
also cause CFIT accidents terrains.
The use of certain electronic
equipment is partially or
entirely prohibited as it might
interfere with aircraft Avoid using electronic
operation, such as equipment that is not related
causing compass deviations. to flying the aircraft.
Various ground support
equipment operate in close
proximity to the fuselage and
wings to service the aircraft Ground crew and ground
and occasionally cause vehicle operator should
accidental damage in the report immediately if they
form of scratches in the paint had damaged something in
or small dents in the skin. the aircraft.
Install a secure cockpit
double-door system on
existing aircraft so that pilots
Hijacking situations are isolated from passengers

Updates on the Case

The latest information about the incident are the following:
The C-130H plane crashed, resulting total deaths of 50 soldiers, including 4 ground casualties.
Total passengers of 104 people, it includes the soldiers and flight crews. Total of 54 survivors
with 46 soldiers that is injured by the incident. The plane crashed on the island of Sulu in Jolo
According in the latest update, Abs-Cbn news (September 2, 2021) said that the AFP
investigation teams excluded the possibility that an attack on the aircraft caused the accident. On
July 5, an AFP team of investigators came to the crash site. Both the flight recorder and the voice
captain of the aircraft were recovered. Both have been sent to the United States to retrieve the
recorded information from the devices. Sulu's only cause for a crash is not attributable. In the
report, the accident was most likely caused by "actual or perceived material factors and human
factors that were exacerbated by local and environmental conditions." In this case, the
Department of National Defense states that the cause of the plane crash is still not clear.

Recommendation
Aviation always claims that safety is always in our hands. As we know, the aviation industry is so
strict in terms of safety and health, hazards, and risk prevention. Cause flying is so incredibly
high risk. In this case of an accident, our suggestions and opinions must be double or triple
check the factors such as the strength materials and components of the aircraft. These factors
affect, like the weight that has a massive impact on flying. Also, alway check the personnel like
pilot or air operator and Maintenance operator performances weekly if they had a physical and
mental health issue.

References

https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/unrecoverable-stall-caused-philippine-military-
plane-crash-say-armed-forces
https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/09/02/21/several-factors-caused-sulu-c-130-crash-says-military

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_C-130_Hercules#:~:text=The%20Lockheed%20C-
130%20Hercules%20is%20an%20American%20four-engine,as%20a%20troop%2C%20medevac
%2C%20and%20cargo%20transport%20aircraft.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021_Philippine_Air_Force_C-130_crash
https://www.asianmilitaryreview.com/2021/07/philippine-air-force-c-130h-medium-airlifter-
crashes-black-box-recovered/
https://lockheedmartin.com/content/dam/lockheed-martin/aero/documents/C-130J/
C130%20Brochure_%20Final%202015.pdf
https://www.dover.af.mil/Air-Show/Static-Displays/C-130H/