Two Japan Self-Defense Force (JSF) helicopters crashed into the sea late Saturday evening, with one crew member found dead and seven others still missing, Japanese authorities said Sunday. The aircraft were participating in a “nighttime anti-submarine warfare exercise,” Defense Minister Minoru Kihara told the press.
Seven people missing
“For the moment, the cause (of the accident, editor’s note) is unknown, for the moment we are giving priority to saving lives.” Probable debris from these devices was spotted by sea rescue services, added the minister. Hours later, Minoru Kihara told reporters that the death of the rescued crew member “has been confirmed.” Seven other people are still missing.
He also indicated that the ministry had “discovered the flight recorders in locations close to each other”, and that it was therefore “highly possible that (the two helicopters) collided”. The helicopters crashed off the coast of the Izu Islands in the Pacific Ocean, authorities said.
Flight recorders being analyzed
“Flight recorders are being analyzed and authorities are questioning the crew of a third helicopter which took part in the exercise but was not involved in the accident, the chief of staff said of the navy, Ryo Sakai Communication with one of the aircraft was lost at 10:38 p.m. local time (Saturday 1:38 p.m. GMT), authorities realized that communication with the second helicopter had also been lost, according to the report. NHK.
These were two Mitsubishi SH-60Ks, Japanese-made patrol helicopters belonging to the Maritime Self-Defense Force, the naval branch of the FJA. A year ago, a Japanese military helicopter of another model (UH-60JA) crashed into the sea in the Okinawa area (southwest of Japan), killing its ten occupants. And in November, an Osprey of the American military forces based in Japan crashed at sea, causing the death of its eight crew members.
Growing tensions
This new fatal accident involving this hybrid aircraft – capable of taking off and landing vertically like a helicopter and flying like a plane – had pushed the American army to suspend all flights of its Ospreys around the world for three months, the time to carry out the investigation into the circumstances of this new tragedy. Osprey flights resumed in early March, including in Japan, after the US military made changes to maintenance and procedures for the aircraft.
Japan, a close ally of the United States, is considerably increasing its defense budget to adapt to growing tensions in the Asia-Pacific, between China’s increasingly assertive territorial claims and repeated threats from North Korea. In the region.