‘A total wreck’: lost Philippine fighter jet found smashed into mountainside

Rescuers found the wreckage of a missing FA-50 fighter jet and the bodies of its two crew members on Wednesday in a mountainous region of the Philippines’ south.

The jet had gone missing a day earlier while on a mission to provide air support for troops fighting communist rebels in northern Mindanao.

Lieutenant General Luis Rex Bergante, commander of Eastern Mindanao Command, said the two crewmen had been found inside the wreckage.

“The bodies were found inside the aircraft. There was an attempt to open a parachute and eject,” he said.

“The aircraft was a total wreck. The aircraft smashed through the trees in the mountain.”

Lieutenant Colonel Francisco Garello of the 4th Infantry Division said the wreckage of the missing fighter jet was found on Mount Kalatungan.