Manila, Filippines (AP) – Rescuers found the wreck of a Philippine fighter jet and the bodies of his two pilots on Wednesday in a mountainous area in the south of the country where they were deployed for a nightly mission to fight communist guerrillas, said military officials.
The FA-50-Jet lost communication during the combat mission with other Air Force aircraft after midnight on Tuesday before reaching a target area in the province of Bukidnon. The other aircraft could safely return to a airbase in the province of Central Cebu after carrying out attacks, said military officers.
The FA-50-Jet was deployed with other Air Force aircraft to offer combat support for troops that fought against dozens of suspected New People's Army-Guerrillas near Cabanglasan Town in Bukidnon, the army said.
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“It was a totally wreck,” said regional military commander Lieutenant General Luis Rex Bergante about the wreck of the hunter, of which he said it was found by Filipino special troops in a jungle on the Kalatungan mountain in Bukidnon.
A regional military spokesperson, Lieutenant -Kolonel Francisco Garello, said without the bodies of the two pilots of the Air Force in the vicinity of the wreck.
Pilots can cast out of the supersonic jets in case they encounter problems, but the Filipino air force said it remained unclear whether the two pilots were cast out on board the FA-50 while the plummeted.
It was also not immediately clear what caused the crash of the Supersonic Jet, which was taken over from a South Korean company about ten years ago by the Philippine government. An investigation was underway, the Air Force said.
The rest of the 11 FA-50s of the country were well-founded after the incident, according to the Filipino Air Force.
The Philippines acquired 12 FA-50S multifunctional fighters from 2015 from the South Korea Aerospace Industries Ltd. The contract of 18.9 billion peso ($ 331 million) was the largest under a military modernization program that has repeatedly stalled due to a lack of money. The Philippines have plans to acquire another 12 fighter jets from South Korea.
The army estimates that about 1,000 communist guerrillas remain setbacks, overshables and fractional fights after decades. Peace talks mediated by Norway collapsed under earlier President Rodrigo Duterte after both parties accused the other accused of continuing fatal attacks despite the negotiations.
In 2023 the government and the communist rebels agreed to resume conversations aimed at ending one of the longest insurgents in Asia. But the conversations have still not started again under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
Apart from anti-upstanding activities, the jets are used in various activities, from large national ceremonies to patroling the disputed South China Sea.
