ISTANBUL

A Philippines Air Force FA-50 fighter jet was reported missing during a military exercise on Tuesday.

Air Force officials lost contact with the jet after midnight while it was conducting a Tactical Night Operations exercise, just “minutes before reaching the target area,” according to an official statement by the air force, the local daily Philstar reported.

Although other jets participating in the exercise “repeatedly attempted to re-establish contact with the missing aircraft until their return to Mactan, Cebu,” they were unable to make contact.

The officials have not disclosed the number of people on the missing crew or the exact location where contact was lost.

Authorities are conducting “extensive and thorough” search operations, using “all available resources,” to find the missing jets, said the statement.

“Our primary concern is the safe return of our aircrew,” said the statement, expressing hope for locating them.

The FA-50 is a light combat aircraft produced by the South Korean aircraft maker Korea Aerospace Industries in collaboration with the US Lockheed Martin.