I saw the news about the C130 airplane that crashed in the Davao Gulf the other day. I was saddened by the news because it is another air tragedy that haunts the Philippine Air Force. There is a general feeling that the Air Force men do not die in combat but through equipment failure. There have been a number of helicopter crashes resulting in death to both pilots and passengers in the last two decades and now the downed plane has added to the list. I learned from the news that the C130 that crashed was one of the last two in the country.
C130 planes played a big part in my childhood. I have already mentioned in a previous article that we used to fly back and forth from Cebu to Manila and other destinations during vacations in the C130. We had a lot fun and funny adventures while traveling in the big cargo plane. The Air Force and the C130 made it possible for us when we were young to visit our parents during vacations even though we had no budget for travel. The C130 and the Air Force really helped a lot of ordinary Filipinos who could not afford to travel via a commercial airplane or boat to get to where they need to go in the country. It’s been so long since I had my last C130 ride so I don’t know if ordinary civilians can still hitch a ride in the cargo plane nowadays.
