DAVAO CITY - The Armed Forces of the Philippines-Eastern Mindanao Command confirmed that bodies of the two pilots and wreckage of the missing FA-50 fighter jet were found in Mount Kalatungan in Talakag, Bukidnon on Wednesday, March 5.
AN FA-50 fighter plane.
Eastmincom spokesperson Lt. Col. Salvacion Evangelista confirmed in a press briefing here that search and rescue teams from the special forces located the crash site through pilot locator beacons.
Evangelista said that the bodies were seen near the wreckage of the South Korea-made plane in Barangay Miarayon.
The ill-fated aircraft was reported missing on March 4 after participating in a night airstrike against the New People’s Army (NPA) in Cabanglasan, Bukidnon.
Rammel Gulahab, operations officer of the Pangantucan Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction Office, said the local government tapped Indigenous Peoples in the area to assist in the search and rescue efforts.
Gulahab said they were members of the Bantay Lasang volunteers who are familiar with the area.
Pangantucan and Talakag are among the towns within the Kalatungan Mountain Range.
He added that the crash site is at least eight hours away by foot.
On Tuesday morning, flight monitoring websites tracked an unregistered aircraft circling around Mount Kalatungan.
The aircraft said to be operated by a US defense contractor circled the area for at least three hours and assisted the soldiers in locating the missing aircraft.