Japan confirms one person dead, seven missing after two military helicopters crash
File photo of a sh-60k helicopter.
The Japanese militaryon Sunday (Apr 21) confirmed seven peoplemissing after two military helicopters crashed on Saturday, the news agency AFP reported. The two SH-60K helicopters, belonging to the Maritime Self-Defense Force (MSDF) were each carrying four people on board. Addressing a press conference, Defence Minister Minoru Kihara told reporters that rescuers "spotted what are believed to be parts of the aircraft in the sea."
Defence Minister Kihara said that the cause of the crash was unknown, adding the helicopters were doing drills to counter submarines at night. Meanwhile, a military spokesperson told AFP that one of the eight people on board had been rescued, but the person died.
Search for missing people on
A report by Japanese broadcaster NHK said that a search for the seven missing people was on. Defence ministry officials said that communication with one of the helicopters was lost off Torishima Island at around 10.38 pm local time, and one minute later an emergency signal was received from this chopper.
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The officials added that 25 minutes after this, they realised that communication with the other aircraft was also lost in the same area. The MSDF said that there were no other aircraft or vessels in nearby waters, and involvement of another country in the incident was unlikely.
Previous incidents
In April last year, a Japanese army helicopter with 10 people on board crashed off Miyako island in southern Okinawa. There were no survivors. In January 2022, a Japanese fighter jet crashed in waters off the central Ishikawa region, killing two pilots on board.
In 2019, an F-35A stealth jet crashed into the sea after taking off from northeastern Japan on a training mission, killing the pilot.