Philippines Air Force Plane Crashes, With 2 Pilots' Whereabouts Still Unknown

A Philippine Air Force (PAF) fighter jet crashed on the island of Luzon on Wednesday, with the whereabouts of two pilots still unknown, a senior official confirmed.

The whereabouts of two pilots flying the SIAI-Marchetti SF-260 trainer/light attack turboprop aircraft remain unknown, according to the state-run Philippines News Agency, which added that the plane crashed around 10: 34 a.m. local time (0234GMT) in Bataan province on the island of Luzon.

"We confirm that it is one of our Air Force aircraft, the SF-260 aircraft from Sangley (Cavite), it was on a 'recurrency training' and that there were two pilots involved. Unfortunately, we cannot give details more than that, the investigation is ongoing," PAF spokeswoman Col. Ma. Consuelo Castillo told the official news agency.

Sangley Point Airport, also known as Cavite Airport, is a domestic airport at Sangley Point in the general vicinity of South Luzon and the Greater Manila Area.

"The ill-fated aircraft was assigned to the 15th Strike Wing, which is based at the Danilo Atienza Air Base in Sangley Point, Cavite," the spokeswoman said.

She added that all of the SF-260 aircraft have been "grounded while the investigation into the crash is ongoing."

"Our aircraft was actually (over) Bataan during the time of the mishap, we have been tracking our military aircraft through 'spider tracks' (an app that allows real-time tracking and flight monitoring) and we lost track of them around 10: 34 a.m. today," she said, adding that the SF-260 took off from Sangley Point at about 9: 59 a.m.

However, some media reports claimed that two Philippine air force pilots were killed in a crash on Wednesday, and another plane went missing on Tuesday with six people on board. -