The Philippine Air Force (PAF)'s fifth Lockheed C-130
"Hercules" heavy-lift transport aircraft arrived at the Benito Ebuen
Air Base, Mactan, Cebu Sunday night.
The airplane, with tail number 5040, arrived at the military
facility at 7:56 p.m., PAF spokesperson Col. Antonio Francisco said in a
message to the PNA.
The C-130 aircraft took off from Guam's Andersen Air Base at
2: 50 p.m. for the final leg of its flight to the Philippines
Francisco also released the names of the personnel who flew
the aircraft to Mactan.
They are Lt. Col. Joey Inacay, mission commander; Lt. Col.
Jason Rom Lacida, aircraft commander; Major Anthony Amora, test pilot and
pilot-in-command; Major Meritto Jay Quijano, pilot-in-command; Major Marjorie
Mukay, pilot-in-command and Major Ronel Salas, pilot.
The PAF spokesperson also said that Mukay is the first
female to be certified as a pilot-in-command of a C-130.
”Please take note that Major Mukay, the other
pilot-in-command, is the first female pilot to be checked out as
pilot-in-command of a C-130 aircraft,” Francisco said.
The PAF’s fifth C-130 , which was acquired through the US
Excess Defense Articles Program, took off from Tucson, Arizona (Davis-Monthan
Air Base) last October 6 (American time).
The Air Force’s fifth C-130 as well as the fourth belong to
the "T" model of the class and original configured as a airborne
tanker.
The fourth C-130 arrived in Benito Ebuen Airbase, Mactan, Cebu last April 5.
It was flown by Filipino pilots headed by Col. Alejando
Baclayon, Lt. Col. Ian Earth Lamzon, Major Ian Dexter Danes, Major Anthony
Amora, and Major Ramil Daet.
The two C-130Ts are worth USD61 million and were acquired
through the US Excess Defense Article Program.
Francisco said the additional C-130s will boost the PAF's
transport and logistic capabilities.
Aside from the four C-130s, the PAF has three Airbus
Military C-295 medium and three Fokker F-27 transports for its logistics and
lift missions.
http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=930022
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.