These are type SH-60K devices. — © EPA-EFE
Two Japanese Navy helicopters crashed in the Pacific Ocean on Saturday evening after allegedly colliding with each other. The body of one crew member was found, while seven others are still missing, Defense Minister Minoru Kihara said.
During a nighttime anti-submarine exercise some 270 kilometers east of Torishima island in the Izu archipelago – south of Tokyo – contact with the two helicopters was lost on Saturday evening. With the first helicopter this happened at 10.38 pm local time (3.38 pm Belgian time), with the second at 11.04 pm (4.04 pm Belgian time). At 10:39 p.m., the Navy received a distress signal.
These are type SH-60K aircraft, each with four crew members on board. As a result of the incident, the Japanese Navy is temporarily suspending all further training with SH-60K helicopters.
A search is underway involving eight ships and five Navy aircraft and two Coast Guard boats, Kihara said. In addition to one fatality, two flight recorders (black boxes) “in locations extremely close to each other” were found in the area, as well as parts of two rotors and other debris.
Navy commander Admiral Ryo Sakai stressed there was no evidence that other countries were involved in the accident.
In April last year, a Japanese Army UH-60JA helicopter crashed into the sea near Okinawa. Ten people were killed.