The aircraft contracted by the United States Department of Defense that crashed in Maguindanao del Sur on Thursday was ''providing intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance support at the request'' of the Philippines, the US Indo Pacific Command Public Affairs said.

In a statement, it said ''the incident occurred during a routine mission supporting US-Philippine security cooperation activities.''

The Beechcraft King Air 300 with registration number N349CA, which departed from Cebu was en route to Cotabato City for an aerial survey when it crashed in the vicinity of Barangay Malatimon, Ampatuan, Maguindanao del Sur.

The US Indo-Pacific Command Public Affairs confirmed that all the four personnel onboard including one US military service member and three defense contractors died during the incident.

"The cause of the crash is currently under investigation, and we have no further details to release at this time," it stated. Robina Asido/DMS