The Philippine Air Force (PAF) is hoping to bring its FA-50 fighter jets back to operation this week following the grounding of its fleet after one of its units crashed in Bukidnon early this month.

In a press conference on Tuesday, Col. Ma Consuelo Castillo, PAF spokesperson, said the grounding of the FA-50 fleet may be lifted "very soon" as the comprehensive inspection of fighter jets is almost done.

"For the lifting of the administrative grounding of our aircraft currently, we are almost complete with our comprehensive inspection of our FA-50 fleet," she said.

"We are committed to bringing back this fleet back to full operational status very soon, hopefully within this week. So that we can get back to their essential missions of maritime patrol, airspace security, and support to ongoing focus military operations," she added.

Castillo confirmed that the probe \will continue as she reiterated the PAF's commitment for the conduct of "swift, impartial, and thorough investigation" to determine the cause of the crash.

"As for the ongoing investigation regarding the mishap, currently we are awaiting the results of the voice and data extraction and assessment, which was done overseas. Our investigating team are also conducting the visual interviews of all personnel involved, not only on the air, but also on the ground. At the same time, we are also looking at all the maintenance and history records of our aircraft," she said.

"We are committed to come up with a swift, impartial, and thorough investigation regarding this, so that we can assure that our future operations are safe for everyone," she added.

The 11 other units of FA-50 light combat aircraft were grounded on March 5 after the crash of one of the jets in the mountain of Kalatungan in Bukidnon was confirmed on March 4, 2025.

The fighter jet with two pilots onboard who were later confirmed dead were reported missing after they lost contact while conducting an air strike in support to the military ground forces operating against the members of New People's Army in the province. Robina Asido/DMS