A tragic incident occurred Thursday when a US military-contracted plane met a catastrophic end in a remote rice field in the southern Philippines, claiming the lives of all four crew members on board.
The aircraft, identified as a Beech King Air 300 with registration number N349CA, was confirmed by U.S. Embassy spokesperson Kanishka Gangopadhyay as being under contract with the U.S. military.
Tim Ambolodto, head of the Maguindanao Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, reported that the bodies recovered appeared to be foreigners.
The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said in a statement that one U.S. service member and three defense contractors were killed on the tragedy. The identities of the victims have not yet been released.
According to the press release:
On February 6, 2025, an aircraft contracted by the U.S. Department of Defense crashed in the Philippine Province of Maguindanao del Sur.
The aircraft was providing intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance support at the request of our Philippine allies. The incident occurred during a routine mission in support of U.S.-Philippine security cooperation activities.
We can confirm no survivors of the crash. There were four personnel on board, including one U.S. military service member and three defense contractors.
The names of the crew are being withheld pending next of kin notification.
The cause of the crash is currently under investigation and we have no further details to release at this time.
AP reported:
The aircraft was conducting a routine mission “providing intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance support at the request of our Philippine allies,” the command said in a statement. It said the cause of the crash was under investigation.
The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines also confirmed the crash of a light plane in Maguindanao del Sur province. It did not immediately provide other details.
The bodies of the four people were retrieved from the wreckage in Ampatuan town, said Ameer Jehad Tim Ambolodto, a safety officer of Maguindanao del Sur. Indo-Pacific Command said the names of the crew were being withheld pending family notifications.
Windy Beaty, a provincial disaster-mitigation officer, told The Associated Press that she received reports that residents saw smoke coming from the plane and heard an explosion before the aircraft plummeted to the ground less than a kilometer (about half a mile) from a cluster of farmhouses.
Nobody was reported injured on or near the crash site, which was cordoned off by troops, Beaty said.
A water buffalo on the ground was killed as a result of the plane crash, local officials said.
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