A U.S. Marine from California has been identified by military officials as one of four people killed when a plane contracted by the U.S. military crashed in a rice field in the southern Philippines.

The United States service member who was killed alongside three defense contractors when their small plane crashed in the Philippines has been identified as a Marine from California.

The aircraft was conducting intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance at the request of -- and in support of -- the Philippines.

American marine dies in Philippines plane crash - Residents saw the airplane smoking before it exploded and fell from the sky, according to local reports

Durham died Thursday along with three defense contractors when a plane contracted by the U.S. military crashed in the southern Philippines. (MCS1 Tyler Thompson/U.S. Navy) The Marine Corps identified Sgt.

Sgt. Jacob M. Durham had just been promoted to the rank of sergeant. He served with the 1st Radio Battalion at Camp Pendleton.

Four people were killed when a U.S. military-contracted plane crashed in a rice field in southern Philippines on Thursday, the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command announced.