Philippine Air Force Grounds FA-50 Fleet After Crash
On March 4, two Philippine Air Force FA-50 fighter jets went missing during an operation in southern Mindanao over the Kalatungan Mountains. Officials reported the jet went missing during a night operation against insurgents in southern Bukidnon province shortly after midnight last Tuesday, with the report stating that contact was lost just before the aircraft reached the target area.
The subsequent search and rescue efforts lasted several hours until the following day on March 5, when wreckage of the FA-50 was located. Upon examination both pilots, Major Jude Salang-Oy and First Lieutenant April John Dadulla, were unfortunately confirmed to be deceased, with recovery efforts getting underway soon after. At the moment, Philippine Air Force officials have stated that they believe the loss of the aircraft was accidental, despite being lost during combat operations. As per a Philippine Air Force spokesperson, “The wreckage points towards it being a crash”. An investigation has been launched with the goal of uncovering the exact cause of the accident, with the aircraft’s black box recorders being recovered on March 5, and being handed off to the Philippine officials for further examination.
As of March 5, the Philippines Air Force has grounded its entire fleet of 11 remaining FA-50s in response to the crash, and will await for the results of the accident investigation and further development before returning to flying status for the time being. The Philippines Air Force has stated that for the time being, they will rely on other aircraft and ground based platforms to fill in the duties of the FA-50 until its return. The PAF’s fleet of FA-50s were purchased from South Korea from 2014 to 2017 and were part of a wider effort of modernization among the Philippines Armed Forces, with this being the first incident that the Philippine Air force has had with the type.