Tokyo
Act Daily News
—
Rescuers are scanning waters off southern Japan for 10 individuals on board a Japanese army helicopter that apparently crashed into the ocean on Thursday, Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada mentioned.
“I will continue to do my best to collect information on the damage and search for human lives,” mentioned Hamada, who regarded visibly overcome with emotion when he spoke to reporters Friday.
Gen. Yasunori Morishita, chief of employees of Japan’s Ground Self-Defense Force (GSDF), mentioned searchers had discovered what seemed to be elements of the the UH-60JA helicopter within the sea and are persevering with to scan the ocean for survivors.
If no survivors are discovered, the crash could be Japan’s deadliest army aviation accident since 1995, Japan’s Defense Ministry mentioned.
The lacking troops embrace two pilots, two mechanics and 6 passengers, amongst them Lt. Gen. Yuichi Sakamoto, a senior GSDF commander, Morishita mentioned.
Sakamoto, commander of the eighth Division, had been newly appointed to his function on March 30, Japan’s public broadcaster NHK reported Friday.
The helicopter – which was surveying the native space – went lacking Thursday at 3:56 p.m. native time after disappearing from radar screens off the coast of Miyako Island within the southern Japanese prefecture of Okinawa, in accordance with the Defense Ministry.
Miyako Island – adjoining to the East China Sea – is about 400 kilometers (250 miles) east of Taiwan and is residence to a JGSDF missile unit.
A spokesperson from the Japan Coast Guard informed Act Daily News that round 6:50 p.m. native time on Thursday, a patrol boat retrieved a lifeboat with the phrases “Ground Self-Defense Force” written on it from the ocean.
The spokesperson added that early Friday morning, a window body, a door with “Ground Self-Defense Force” written on it and a rotor blade have been recovered in waters north of Irabu Island, which is linked to Miyako Island by a bridge.
According to producer Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, the UH-60JA is a multipurpose helicopter primarily based on the US army’s Black Hawk helicopters.
The final time a minimum of 10 individuals have been misplaced in a Japanese army aviation accident was on February 21, 1995, when a Maritime Self-Defense Force flying boat crashed in Kochi prefecture, southern Japan, killing 11 individuals, the Defense Ministry mentioned.
In February 1984, 12 died when a flying boat crashed in waters off the west coast of Ao Island in Ehime prefecture, the ministry mentioned.
Source: www.cnn.com