US military aircraft crashes in Philippines, killing four

A US military-contracted plane crashed in Maguindanao del Sur province, southern the Philippines, on February 6, killing all four people on board, the US Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) confirmed.

The aircraft was conducting an intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) mission at the request of the Philippine government when the accident occurred. The victims included one US service member and three military contractors.

According to the Philippine Civil Aviation Authority, the light aircraft, a Beechcraft King Air 300, took off from Cebu province in central Philippines en route to Cotabato City before crashing into a rice field near Ampatuan town, Maguindanao del Sur.

INDOPACOM stated that the flight was part of routine security cooperation between the US and the Philippines. Authorities are investigating the cause of the crash./.

VNA