Two pilots, one of whom was to be married in two weeks, were found dead on board a FA-50 light combat aircraft that crashed in Bukidnon on Tueaday, the military said Wednesday.

Lt. Gen. Luis Rex Bergante, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Eastern Mindanao Command chief, said the wreckage of the fighter jet and its pilots were found at the dense area of Mount Kalatungan Complex in Bukidnon around 11 am.

Bergante said the pilots were inside the fighter jet with tail number 002 when they were found by the Army Special Forces.

In its Facebook post, the Police Community Affairs and Development Group (PCADG) in Northern Mindanao identified the two pilots as Maj. Jude Salang-oy and 1st Lt. AJ Dadulla.

"Our hearts and prayers go out to the wife, child, and family of Major Salang-oy, as well as the family and fiancée of 1Lt. AJ Dadulla, who was set to be married just two weeks from now," it said.

In an online interview with reporters, Col. Ma. Consuelo Castillo, Philippine Air Force public affairs office chief, said 11 FA-50 fighter jets are now grounded after its crash.

"The PAF has grounded its FA-50 fleet and will ensure a thorough investigation into the accident. We are committed to providing all the necessary support to the bereaved families during this difficult time," she said.

Despite the grounding of the FA-50 fighter jets, Castillo assures the security of Philippine air space, especially on the West Philippine Sea.

"Definitely monitoring will be round the clock. We have our radars monitoring... all our other aircraft perform maritime patrol. If worse comes to worst that we need to deploy our FA-50s, that will be decided by the higher headquarters. It will depend on the situation," she said.

"In terms of our regular maritime patrol, we have other types of aircraft that we can use, and as far as monitoring is concerned, our radar capability is also there. We also have our ground base air defense system. The system is not complete for a while but definitely the direction is to be able to lift the grounding as soon as possible through a swift and thorough investigation," she added. Robina Asido/DMS