A US Marine and three defence contractors have been identified as the four personnel killed in a military plane crash in the southern Philippines on Thursday.
The US-contracted Beechcraft Super King Air B300 went down in Maguindanao del Sur province while conducting a surveillance mission at the request of Philippine authorities, according to the US Indo-Pacific Command. The cause of the crash remains under investigation.
As per the news agency AP, the aircraft went down in a rice field in Maguindanao del Sur province, near the town of Ampatuan. Local authorities stated that residents saw smoke and heard an explosion before the plane crashed, landing about half a mile from a cluster of farmhouses.
No civilians were reported injured, though a water buffalo on the ground was killed.
According to the news agency AFP, the crashed aircraft was identified as a Beechcraft Super King Air B300 with the tail number N349CA, registered to defence firm Metrea. The company provides airborne intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance services to defence agencies.
The Philippine military has classified details of the crash as confidential, and an investigation is underway.
Municipal rescuer Rhea Martin told AFP that her team found the bodies of all four victims near the wreckage. “The plane was cut in half,” she described, highlighting the severity of the crash.
According to CNN, a US defence official confirmed that the US service member killed in the incident was a Marine. However, it remains unclear whether the three defence contractors were also US citizens.
The aircraft was reportedly a Beechcraft King Air 350, a model frequently used for ISR operations.
The incident comes just a day after newly appointed US defence secretary Pete Hegseth held a call with Philippine secretary of national defence Gilberto Teodoro, Jr. The two discussed strengthening military cooperation and deterrence efforts in the South China Sea, CNN reported.
The US has long maintained a presence in the southern Philippines, where American forces provide intelligence and training to Filipino troops combating Islamic State-linked militants.
