One died and seven people were missing Sunday, April 21 after an accident overnight in which two Japanese military helicopters apparently collided before crashing into the sea, officials said.
A spokesman for Japan's Self-Defense Force (SDF) confirmed the late Saturday incident to AFP and said that one person was rescued but later confirmed dead. 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 appear to have crashed during night-time training of countering submarines off the Izu Islands in the Pacific Ocean, officials said. "The flight recorders are being analyzed" while officials are interviewing crew of a third helicopter that was joining the drill but was not involved in the accident, chief of staff Ryo Sakai of the Maritime Self-Defense Force (MSDF) told reporters.
Communication with one chopper was lost at 10:38 pm (13:38 GMT) off the island of Torishima, and one minute later an emergency signal was received from this aircraft, broadcaster NHK reported. Around 25 minutes later, at around 11:04 pm, the military realized that communication with the other aircraft was also lost in the same area.
The Mitsubishi SH-60K helicopters from the MSDF are mainly based on and operate from naval destroyers. The MSDF said as there were no other aircraft nor vessels in nearby waters, involvement of another country in the incident is unlikely, NHK added.