The Philippine Air Force on Tuesday belied speculations one of its aircraft that crashed off Palawan Sunday night was conducting surveillance over a disputed part of the Spratly Islands.
PAF spokesman Col. Miguel Okol maintained the OV-10 that went down was conducting a regular night proficiency flight, radio dzBB's Tuesday Niu reported.
Okol said there was no basis for claims that the plane was checking Ayungin Shoal, an area in the Spratlys near mainland Palawan.
Chinese ships had been sighted near Ayungin Shoal earlier this month.
The Philippines and China are two of six claimants to the Spratlys. The other claimants include Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan.
Search operations are ongoing for the two pilots of the OV-10 aircraft, one of two that conducted proficiency flights Sunday night. The plane failed to land at Puerto Princesa.
On Monday morning, search crews found a part of the plane but failed to find any sign of the pilots.
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