The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) announced that it has begun investigating the crash of a US military-contracted aircraft in Maguindanao Del Sur on Thursday afternoon.
The incident resulted in the deaths of all four passengers on board.
“We can confirm that one of the victims is a US military service member, but we are still verifying the nationalities of the other passengers,” CAAP information officer Bea Bernardo said.
CAAP has formed a team and is collaborating closely with local authorities to determine the cause of the crash.
According to the initial report from CAAP, the aircraft—a Beechcraft King Air 300 with registration number N349CA—departed from Cebu and was flying to Cotabato City for an aerial survey when it crashed in Barangay Malatimon, Ampatuan, at around 2 p.m.
CAAP stated that this flight was part of a routine mission supporting US-Philippine security cooperation activities.
“Further details will be provided once the report becomes available,” said Bernardo.