According to Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada, rescuers are currently searching for 10 individuals who were onboard a Japanese military helicopter that crashed into the sea off the coast of Miyako Island, southern Japan on Thursday. Gen. Yasunori Morishita, chief of staff of Japan’s Ground Self-Defense Force (GSDF), stated that searchers had found what appeared to be parts of the UH-60JA helicopter in the ocean and are still looking for survivors. The missing individuals consist of two pilots, two mechanics, and six passengers, including Lt. Gen. Yuichi Sakamoto, a senior GSDF commander.
Miyako Island, located near the East China Sea, is about 400 kilometers (250 miles) east of Taiwan and is home to a JGSDF missile unit. On Thursday evening, a patrol boat retrieved a lifeboat with the words “Ground Self-Defense Force” from the sea, and early Friday morning, a window frame, a door with “Ground Self-Defense Force” written on it, and a rotor blade were found in waters north of Irabu Island. The UH-60JA is a multipurpose helicopter based on the US military’s Black Hawk helicopters, according to manufacturer Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.
If no survivors are discovered, it would be Japan’s deadliest military aviation accident since 1995. In Kochi prefecture, southern Japan, on February 21, 1995, at least 10 individuals died in a Japanese military aviation accident when a Maritime Self-Defense Force flying boat crashed. In Ehime prefecture, the ministry added that 12 people died when a flying boat crashed in waters off the west coast of Ao Island in February 1984.