00:00Four pilots are dead after two Philippine Air Force training planes collided in midair and crashed at a military air
00:10base south of Manila.
00:11The collision happened on Friday afternoon at Fernando Air Base located in Lipa City in Batangas province.
00:19According to reports by the Associated Press, the two SF-260 military training aircraft were flying at a low altitude
00:29when they collided.
00:31Both planes then crashed inside the air base.
00:34All four pilots aboard the two aircraft were killed.
00:38Officials said no one on the ground was injured.
00:41A witness told the Associated Press that one of the planes came down near barracks used by military personnel at
00:50the base.
00:51The Philippine Air Force has described the incident as an accidental crash.
00:56However, the exact circumstances leading to the collision have not yet been established.
01:01Following the tragedy, the Philippine Air Force temporarily grounded its remaining SF-260 aircraft.
01:08The move will remain in place while an investigation examines the cause of the crash.
01:15Authorities have not disclosed how many SF-260 aircraft are currently in service, and further details about the incident remain
01:24limited.
01:25The investigation is expected to focus on the circumstances of the training flight and the events leading up to the
01:32midair collision.
01:33Four lives lost, two aircraft destroyed, and serious questions remain about what happened in the skies above the military base.
01:43The latest tragedy also raises renewed concerns because it follows other fatal accidents involving the same aircraft type.
01:51In May, another SF-260 crashed in the northern mountain province of Benguet during a navigation training exercise involving several
02:01aircraft of the same type.
02:04Both pilots aboard that aircraft were killed.
02:07Earlier, in 2023, an SF-260 crashed into a rice field in Bataan Province, northwest of Manila, during a training
02:16flight.
02:16That accident also claimed the lives of two crew members, according to the Philippine Air Force.
02:23These incidents place renewed attention on the safety of the country's military training fleet.
02:29The crash comes as the Philippines continues efforts to modernize its armed forces.
02:35Financial constraints have complicated plans to upgrade its Air Force, Navy, and Army.
02:41The country must also contend with long-running internal insurgencies and growing tensions with China over territorial disputes in the
02:51South China Sea.
02:52Against this backdrop, maintaining safe and reliable military aircraft remains an important challenge.
03:00For now, the priority is to establish exactly why the two training aircraft collided and whether further safety measures are
03:08needed.
03:08The SF-260 fleet remains temporarily grounded pending the investigation.
03:14As the Philippines mourn the four pilots killed in the crash, attention now turns to the findings that could help
03:22prevent another tragedy.
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