Two Japanese navy helicopters carrying eight crew members are believed to have crashed in the Pacific Ocean south of Tokyo during a night training exercise, Japan’s defense minister said, and rescuers were searching for the missing people.
Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara told reporters that two SH-60K helicopters belonging to the Maritime Self-Defense Force, each carrying a crew of four, lost contact late Saturday near Torishima, a Pacific island about 600 kilometers (370 miles) south of Tokyo.
One of the eight crew members was rescued from the water, but his or her condition was unknown. Officials are still searching for seven others.
The cause of the crash was not yet known, Kihara said, adding that officials were prioritizing rescue operations.
The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force dispatched eight warships and five aircraft to search for the missing crew members. Kihara said they found debris believed to be from one of the SH-60Ks.
“We believe the helicopter has crashed,” he said.
Kihara said the helicopters were twin-engine multi-mission aircraft designed by Sikorsky, known as Seahawks, and were conducting nighttime anti-submarine training in the waters. Contact was lost after one of them sent an emergency signal at 10:38 pm (1338 GMT). About 25 minutes later, contact with the other aircraft was lost. One belongs to an air base in Nagasaki and the other belongs to a base in Tokushima Prefecture.
SH-60K aircraft are usually deployed on destroyers to perform anti-submarine missions.
Defense officials said Saturday’s training involved only the Japanese navy and was not part of a multinational exercise. They said no foreign aircraft or warships were sighted in the area.
In accordance with its 2022 security strategy, Japan has been accelerating military construction and strengthening deterrence against the southwestern Pacific islands and the East China Sea to cope with the threat of China’s increasingly assertive military activities. In recent years, Japan has conducted extensive naval exercises of its own as well as joint exercises with its ally the United States and other partners.
Saturday’s apparent crash comes a year after a Self-Defense Forces UH-60 Black Hawk crashed near Miyako Island in southwestern Japan, killing all 10 crew members. In January 2022, an Air Self-Defense Force F-15 fighter jet crashed off the north-central coast of Japan, killing two crew members.
Japan’s NHK public television said no weather warning was issued in the area at the time of Saturday’s crash.
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