Philippine authorities have retrieved a black box from an air force plane that crashed at the weekend, killing 52 people, military chief General Cirilito Sobejana told Reuters on Tuesday.

The victims include 49 military personnel and three civilians, said the authorities. 

All 96 passengers of the Philippine Air Force plane have been accounted for, Sobejana, the Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff, said.

He said on Sunday the plane was transporting troops from Cagayan de Oro City on Mindanao island when it crashed around 11:30 a.m. local time on Jolo island. 

"The plane missed the runway and tried to regain power but failed," Sobejana said then.

The plane had attempted to land at Jolo airport, but overshot the runway without touching down. It failed to regain enough power and height and crashed at nearby Patikul.

"A number of soldiers were seen jumping out of the aircraft before it hit the ground, sparing them from the explosion caused by the crash," the Joint Task Force Sulu said in a statement on Sunday.

The crash is the latest tragedy for the Philippine Air Force this year.

Last month, one of the Philippine Air Force's newly acquired S-70i Black Hawk utility helicopters crashed north of capital city Manila, killing its six crew members.

(With input from Xinhua, Reuters)