Four pilots killed as two Philippine Air Force trainer planes crash

The military said on Saturday (Oct 24) that four pilots died after a pair of Philippine Air Force training planes went down mid-exercise at a base south of Manila.

In a statement, the Philippine Air Force said two SF-260 aircraft were involved in Friday's accident, which occurred while they were on a training flight at Batangas province's Fernando Air Base. Nobody else was hurt, and both planes came down inside the air base's grounds.

Local media report a midair collision

According to local media, the pair of aircraft hit each other in midair. Until an investigation determines what caused the accident, the Air Force has put all of its SF-260 trainer planes on a temporary grounding.

Earlier SF-260 crashes

Two pilots died in May after an SF-260 trainer aircraft went down in a mountainous part of the northern Philippines. A 2023 training flight also ended in the crash of another SF-260 TP Marchetti, and two pilots were killed in that accident too.

In 2017, militants loyal to Islamic State seized southern Marawi City, and the military then flew SF-260 aircraft in air strikes on the area over several months.