The FA-50 fighter jet incident that occurred on March 4 in Bukidnon was attributed to a combination of factors with no indication of technical or mechanical issues, the Philippine Air Force (PAF) said Tuesday.
“This mishap was caused by many factors that interplay. It is very clear, based on the data that was extracted and assessed—there was no technical or mechanical problem that caused the mishap,” said Air Force spokesperson Col. Ma. Consuelo Castillo, citing the result of the investigation.
Castillo explained that these factors include the inherent risks associated with night flying over a mountainous terrain and the complexities in pulling off a multi-aircraft combat mission.
“Whenever flying mountainous terrains, there are other factors—the visibility, the wind conditions and besides that, it is very difficult to fly multiple aircraft. So, there’s a lot of coordination that needs to be done flawlessly,” she said.
“We emphasized that the event was caused by a confluence of factors interplaying at that moment. First is an inherent risk of night flying—it’s a very difficult mission, considering also that is a combat mission,” Castillo added.
The PAF is enhancing its safety protocols following the fatal accident involving one of its FA-50PH jet fighters during a tactical night operation in Bukidnon, which resulted in the death of two pilots.
It is also committed to improving coordination with stakeholders, refining mission planning, and upgrading tactics, techniques, and procedures to ensure the safety of both pilots and ground personnel.
The incident led to the temporary grounding of all FA-50 jets, with thorough maintenance inspections conducted on the remaining 11 aircraft. The flight data recorder from the crashed jet was sent to the U.S. for analysis.
On March 25, the fleet was declared fully operational and is now participating in bilateral and multilateral exercises such as Cope Thunder and Balikatan.