One dead, seven missing after two Japanese navy helicopters crash

WORLD, April 21 (YPA) – After the crash of two Japanese navy helicopters into the sea late Saturday evening, the country’s Defense Minister Minoru Kihara, announced the death of one pilot and the loss of seven others.

“The two Japanese navy helicopters carrying eight crew members crashed in the Pacific Ocean south of Tokyo during a nighttime training flight after possibly colliding with each other,” Defense Minister Minoru Kihara said during a press conference on Sunday.

Defence Minister Minoru Kihara said rescuers “spotted what are believed to be part of the aircraft in the sea, and we believe that the two helicopters crashed.”

At this point the cause is unknown, but firstly we do our best to save lives,” Kihara told reporters.

Hours later, Kihara told reporters that the crew member who was rescued “was confirmed dead.”

He also said the ministry “discovered the flight recorders in places close to each other,” and so “possibility is high that (the two helicopters) collided.”

The helicopters, twin-engine, multi-mission aircraft developed by Sikorsky and known as Seahawks, were modified and produced in Japan by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. They were on nighttime anti-submarine training in the waters, Kihara said. One lost contact at 10:38 p.m. (1338 GMT) and sent an automatic emergency signal a minute later.

Saturday’s crash comes a year after a Ground Self-Defence Force UH-60 Blackhawk crashed off the southwestern Japanese island of Miyako, leaving all 10 crew members dead.

E.M