The US military has confirmed that a light plane that crashed Thursday in Maguindanao del Sur, killing all four people onboard, was contracted by the US Department of Defense to provide intelligence support at the request of Philippine allies.

Residents of Barangay Malatimon in Ampatuan, Maguindanao del Sur, heard an explosion in midair shortly before a US military-contracted aircraft nosedived into a rice field in their

A US-contracted surveillance plane crashed in the Philippines on Thursday morning, killing all four personnel on board, including one US military service member, according to US Indo-Pacific Command.