4 Philippine Air Force Pilots Killed in Training Plane Collision
Two Philippine Air Force SF-260 trainer aircraft collided during a low-altitude training flight and crashed at Fernando Air Base in Lipa City, Batangas, on Friday afternoon, killing all four pilots on board, according to apnews.com.
Midair Collision at Fernando Air Base
The afternoon flight turned fatal when the two two-seater aircraft struck each other midair over the air base south of Manila. apnews.com reported that one of the planes went down near the barracks of military personnel stationed within the installation. Ground personnel sustained no injuries from the impact or the subsequent wreckage.
The military did not immediately provide details regarding the exact cause of the accidental crash. Two Philippine officials spoke to apnews.com on condition of anonymity because they lacked authorization to discuss the incident publicly. Reuters separately noted that local media reported the two planes collided in midair.
Immediate Grounding of SF-260 Fleet
In response to the fatal accident, the Philippine Air Force temporarily grounded all remaining SF-260 aircraft while an investigation takes place. The military did not disclose how many of the Italian-acquired trainer planes remain in active service.
Friday’s incident marks the latest in a series of fatal accidents involving the SF-260 platform. In May, another Philippine Air Force SF-260 crashed in the northern mountain province of Benguet during a navigation training flight, killing two pilots. A similar training flight ended in tragedy in 2023 when an SF-260 crashed into a rice field in Bataan province, killing two crewmen.
Funding Gaps Hinder Philippine Military Modernization
The crash highlights ongoing challenges for the underfunded Philippine military. Financial constraints have long hindered efforts to modernize the air force, navy, and army. These modernization hurdles persist while the military simultaneously addresses decades-long communist and Muslim insurgencies, alongside increasingly hostile territorial disputes with Beijing in the South China Sea.
Despite these operational strains, the SF-260 platform has a long history within the armed forces. Reuters noted that the military previously deployed SF-260 aircraft during months of airstrikes in southern Marawi City after militants loyal to Islamic State seized the area in 2017.