PAF grounds FA-50 fleet after fatal Bukidnon crash
- The 11 remaining FA-50 jets in the PAF fleet are now grounded following Tuesday’s crash of one of the fighter aircraft in Bukidnon that killed two pilots, identified as Maj. Jude Salang-oy and First Lt. AJ Dadulla.
- The two PAF pilots were found dead on Wednesday morning close to the wreckage of the missing South Korea-made fighter jet near the Mt. Kalatungan Complex in Bukidnon.
- Castillo assured the public that despite the grounding of the remaining FA-50s, the PAF would still be able to monitor and defend the country’s airspace using its other aircraft, radar and ground-based air defense systems.
The Philippine Air Force (PAF) has grounded the 11 remaining FA-50 jets following Tuesday’s crash of one of its fighter aircraft in Bukidnon province that killed two pilots, officials announced on Wednesday.
Authorities have launched an investigation, which must be expedited because the fighter jets are crucial to the military’s air defense.
Col. Ma. Consuelo Castillo, PAF spokesperson, told reporters in an online briefing that the two PAF pilots were found dead on Wednesday morning close to the wreckage of the missing South Korea-made fighter jet near the Mt. Kalatungan Complex in Bukidnon.
“With deep regret and profound sadness, the PAF announces the loss of the two pilots [onboard],” Castillo said.
She added that the PAF is committed to providing necessary support to the bereaved families “during this difficult time.”
“We request the nation’s prayers for the eternal repose of our fallen pilots, whose service and heroism we deeply honor,” she said.
While Castillo did not disclose the pilots’ identities, Police Community Affairs and Development Group Northern Mindanao identified them as Maj. Jude Salang-oy and 1st Lt. AJ Dadulla.
“All indications point to it being a crash,” Castillo said but did not divulge further information pending a thorough investigation.
Probe must be ‘expedited’
Castillo assured the public that despite the grounding of the remaining FA-50s, the PAF would still be able to monitor and defend the country’s airspace using its other aircraft, radar and ground-based air defense systems.
She did not give a timeline for the investigation but said it must be expedited because the fighter jets were also used for guarding the country’s territorial waters.
The PAF hopes “to lift the grounding through a swift and thorough investigation,” she said.
“We need to have it flying to guard our territorial waters and whenever we need it to support our ground operations,” she added.
Castillo said the FA-50 fighter jets are involved in maritime patrols and internal security operations.
“We are committed to completing the investigation as soon as possible so that our fighter aircraft can get back [in] the air,” she said.
Tuesday’s crash was the first recorded accident since the government acquired 12 units of FA-50 fighter jets from Korea Aerospace Industries, South Korea’s sole aircraft maker.
The fighter jet that crashed was one of the first two delivered to the country in 2015. The delivery of the rest of the fleet was completed in 2017.
Soldiers in rescue ops
In Bukidnon, residents of Barangay San Miguel in Talakag town recalled hearing low-flying aircraft hovering over the village just before midnight on Tuesday.
San Miguel is among seven rural villages of Bukidnon that sit within the Kalatungan range whose peak stands at 2,860 meters.
“We were awakened by those sounds, and felt that these were just right above our roofs,” San Miguel village chief Nilo Onduran told Strong Radio-FM on Wednesday, speaking in the dialect.
Onduran added that several other villages reported hearing a loud explosion and afterward seeing a ball of fire in the forests of the Kalatungan mountain range.
Just before daybreak on Tuesday, Onduran said they were alerted by the Army about an emergency for which their help was enlisted. He would later find out that they would be searching for the downed FA-50 fighter jet.
Lt. Col. Salvacion Evangelista, spokesperson for the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ Western Mindanao Command, said more than 100 soldiers and civilian volunteers were mobilized for the search and rescue operation.
A video shared on social media by Donjun Bayawon Dawatan, a resident of Portulin village in the town, showed soldiers alighting from a military Black Hawk helicopter at past 1 p.m. on Tuesday. Dawatan also took videos of search and rescue volunteers preparing to scale the forested hills.
Evangelista said other teams had to go on foot due to weather conditions.
Onduran said that they had walked about nine kilometers through the dense jungle and were nearing the suspected crash site when told to call off the mission after another team had located the jet and the pilots.
‘Unfortunate incident’
Castillo said the FA-50 aircraft with tail No. 002 was “totally wrecked.” It was part of a “tactical night operation” with similar jet fighters and lost contact several minutes before reaching the target area of operations past midnight on Tuesday.
The aircraft was later located using signals from the aircraft’s emergency locator transmitter and locator beacons.
Col. Francel Margareth Padilla, AFP spokesperson, said the PAF fighter jets provided air support to government troops during an encounter with the New People’s Army in Cabanglasan town.
Castillo said the two pilots had rigorous training for both night and day operations and there were “no abnormal indications before they lost contact” with the rest of the flight.
She pointed out that the FA-50 fighter jets were a “game changer” during the Marawi siege in 2017 and “gave our ground troops an advantage [against] the enemy.”
“That proves that it was already battle-tested so this incident was really unfortunate,” she said.
