Four killed as US military-contracted plane crashes in Philippines

A small aircraft contracted by the U.S. military crashed in the southern Philippines on Thursday, killing at least four people, officials confirmed.

The U.S. embassy in Manila acknowledged the plane’s connection to the American military but did not provide further details. The Philippine military, citing classification concerns, declined to release information about the crash, which occurred on Mindanao island.

American troops are periodically deployed to the Philippines for intelligence-sharing operations, particularly in efforts to combat Islamic State-linked militants in Mindanao. The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command in Hawaii has not yet responded to inquiries about the incident.

Regional police spokesman Jopy Ventura said the cause of the crash remained unknown. The fixed-wing aircraft went down on a farm near Ampatuan, with police and soldiers securing the area to prevent tampering with evidence.

Authorities identified the plane’s tail number as N349CA. According to flight-tracking site FlightAware, the plane was registered to the defense firm Metrea. The company’s website describes it as a provider of services to national security partners.

Municipal rescuer Rhea Martin said her team recovered four bodies near the wreckage, noting that “the plane was cut in half.” The identities of the victims have not yet been released.