Two Japanese Naval Helos Collide Over Philippine Sea; 1 Killed, 7 Missing
Two Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force helicopters collided Saturday night in the Philippine Sea during nighttime anti-submarine warfare training, leaving one crew member dead and seven others missing.
Japan’s Defense Minister Minoru Kihara said during a Sunday morning news conference that contact with the first helicopter was lost at 10:38 p.m. Saturday 150 nautical miles east of Torishima, an uninhabited volcanic island about 600 kilometers (373 miles) south of Tokyo. A signal from an emergency locator transmitter was received at 10:39 p.m. Kihara said it was possible that both helicopters’ transmitters sent signals that were recorded as one because they operated on the same frequency and were in the same area. The ministry concluded the helicopters had collided based on the proximity of the recovered flight recorders and other parts.
Kihara said 12 Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force ships, three fixed-wing aircraft, four helicopters, two Japan Coast Guard ships, and a Japan Coast Guard aircraft were involved in the ongoing search for the missing.
Earlier at a 2 a.m. Sunday news conference, Kihara said the helicopters, based at JMSDF Omura Air Base in Nagasaki Prefecture and JMSDF Komatsushima Air Base in Tokushima Prefecture, were part of a training exercise with JMSDF submarines, ships and aircraft. He confirmed no foreign forces were involved.
The pilots commanding the crashed helicopters were identified as Lt. Cmdr. Takuya Matsuda and Lt. Cmdr. Kazuki Itamura. An investigation board has been formed, and all SH-60K training flights have been suspended, Sakai said.
- Sakai also canceled his trip to China for the 19th Western Pacific Naval Symposium, which began Sunday in Qingdao.
- The biennial meeting includes 29 countries.
- China, the host, has not disinvited any member states, unlike Japan, which did not invite Russia in 2022 because of the Ukraine invasion.
U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel said the U.S. offered assistance in the search, but Japan has not announced a decision. “We will stand together, side by side, with our friend and ally, Japan,” Emanuel said in a social media post.
- The incident occurred just over a year after a Japan Ground Self-Defense Force UH-60J crash near Miyako Island killed 10, including Lt. Gen. Yuichi Sakamoto.
- An inquiry cited simultaneous engine failures but could not determine the exact cause.
The two SH-60 patrol helicopters were conducting antisubmarine exercises on Saturday night near Torishima in the remote Izu island group, off the southern coast of central Japan.
Defense 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”.
One killed & 7 missing after navy helicopters smash into each other in Pacific Ocean as search for survivors launched
The SH-60K helicopters lost contact late on Saturday while conducting anti-submarine warfare drills off the Izu Islands in the Pacific Ocean.
Ten ships and five aircraft from the Japan's Maritime and Air Self-Defense Force were still combing the waters for survivors today.
"We have a 24-hour operation for the search, which took place all day and all night," the navy officer said.
A crew member who was recovered early Sunday from the water was later pronounced dead.
Other debris was also quickly found, but there has been no trace of the seven missing crew.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said yesterday: "It is a matter of the utmost regret that we lost our important personnel as they engaged in a very tough, late-night training which was conducted in order to fulfil their duties."
Defense Minister Minoru Kihara said that there was so far no information from the flight recorders to suggest any technical problems with the aircraft.
The flight data recorders from the two choppers were found close together, along with a blade from each helicopter, helmets and fragments - providing signs the two SH-60Ks crashed almost at the same spot, officials said.
Read more about it: https://sc.mp/ht3xi
Two Japanese navy helicopters carrying eight crew members crashed in the Pacific Ocean south of Tokyo during a nighttime training exercise on April 20, 2024. One crew member was recovered but later declared dead. Rescuers are searching for seven others missing, according to the Japanese defence minister. Officials have said the two aircraft could have collided mid-air.
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