Philippines military plane crash kills four pilots

Four pilots were killed when two Philippine military planes collided during training at Fernando Air Base, south of Manila, the air force said Saturday.

Philippine Air Force spokesman Colonel Alvin Capinguian said the SF-260 single-propeller planes crashed on Friday afternoon and both went down inside the base perimeter. He said no other casualties were reported.

Capinguian said an investigation had been opened into the cause of the crash. The air force has temporarily grounded its SF-260 fleet as a precaution.

The crash follows other deadly incidents involving Philippine military aircraft in recent years. In May, two military pilots were killed when another SF-260 crashed during a training flight in Benguet province in the northern Philippines.