Officials in Japan say search and rescue efforts proceed for a army helicopter with 10 on board that disappeared from radar and is presumed to have crashed Thursday whereas on a surveillance mission off the nation’s southwest islands close to Taiwan.
Japan’s Ground Self-Defense Force chief of employees, General Yasunori Morishita, advised reporters in Tokyo the helicopter is believed to have had an aerial accident and mentioned rescue efforts have been persevering with.
Defense officers say the UH-60JA multipurpose helicopter with 10 folks on board was conducting surveillance close to the island of Miyakojima in Okinawa Prefecture about 400 kilometers east of Taiwan when it vanished from radar at 4:33 p.m. native time Thursday.
Officials say the plane didn’t reply to radio communications. Japan Coast Guard ships have been dispatched and the GSDF joined the search. A U.S. Department of Defense official advised VOA the U.S. army has provided help for search and rescue efforts to search out the lacking Japanese helicopter.
Coast guard officers have mentioned they’ve found what seem like elements of the helicopter in or close to waters the place it disappeared. The officers additionally report discovering oil floating on the water’s floor. The Japanese protection ministry says it’s making an attempt to substantiate whether or not the elements are from the helicopter.
The GSDF says the helicopter was primarily based at Camp Takayubaru in Kumamoto Prefecture and two pilots, two mechanics and 6 crew, all of whom are Self-Defense Forces members, have been on board.
Officials say the helicopter took off from Miyakojima earlier than 4 p.m. native time and its actions have been anticipated to final not more than an hour.
Some info for this report was supplied by The Associated Press, Reuters and AFP.