A Philippine Air Force FA-50 takes off during the US-Philippines joint air force military exercise dubbed 'Cope Thunder' at Basa Air Base in Pampanga on April 11, 2024. Jam Sta. Rosa, AFP/File 

MANILA (UPDATED) — A Philippines FA-50 fighter jet and its two-man crew are missing after flying in support of ground forces fighting communist rebels in the southern Mindanao region, a military official said Tuesday.

Air force spokeswoman Colonel Consuelo Castillo said the jet was flying "over land" on the way to its target area when it went missing during a "tactical night operation in support of our ground troops".

While she declined to provide mission specifics, Philippine Army spokesman Col. Louie Dema-ala confirmed to AFP that the missing FA-50 was part of a squadron sent "to provide air support" to troops fighting communist rebels in Mindanao's Bukidnon province.

Lieutenant-Colonel Francisco Garello of the 4th Infantry Division told AFP that air support had been called in overnight during a firefight with the New People's Army in a mountainous area.

"There was a firefight between the 403rd Infantry Brigade (Philippine Army) and they made a request for air support, so the air force supported the encounter," said Garello.

The insurgency is now believed to have fewer than 2,000 guerrilla fighters. 

In an earlier statement, the Philippine Air Force (PAF) said the missing jet had lost contact with other fighters in the group "minutes before reaching its target area".

The fighters flew out of Mactan–Benito Ebuen Air Base, which shares a runway with the airport in Cebu, the Philippines' second-largest city.

PAF spokeswoman Castillo told reporters it was the "first major incident involving" its squadron of FA-50s, which have previously been used in exercises over the disputed South China Sea.

The Philippines has a dozen of the fighters purchased from South Korea in the last decade.

"We are hopeful that we will still be able to recover" the aircraft and crew, Castillo said. "We are still very optimistic that they are safe."

DEADLY ACCIDENTS

In a statement, the air force said it was "conducting extensive and thorough search operations, utilizing all available resources, to locate the missing jet fighter aircraft."

The FA-50s have taken part in joint air patrols with treaty ally the United States over the contested South China Sea, where China and the Philippines have been involved in increasingly tense confrontations over reefs and waters.

Beijing claims almost the entirety of the crucial waterway, through which trillions of dollars in commerce transits each year, despite a Hague ruling that its assertion has no legal basis.

There have been a number of deadly accidents involving Philippine military aircraft in recent years.

Last April, two navy pilots died after their Robinson R22 helicopter crashed near a market south of the capital Manila during a training flight.

Two PAF pilots were killed in January 2023 when their Marchetti SF260 turboprop plane crashed into a rice field.

© Agence France-Presse