Plane crashes in Japan: Search continues for missing seven crew members

Last Updated on April 23, 2024 2:31 am

The Japanese Navy is conducting an operation in the Pacific Ocean in search of seven crew members missing in the plane crash. They went missing when two planes collided on Saturday night (April 20).

The accident occurred near the Izu Islands, about 600 kilometers south of Tokyo, the BBC reported in a report on Monday (April 22). The cause of the accident is not yet known.

The rescuers said that the body of one crew member has been recovered so far in this incident. The remaining seven crew members are still missing. They also said that the aircraft’s black box and several debris were found.

On Sunday (April 21), Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara said in a statement that the flight recorders recovered from the two planes revealed that the accident was not caused by a technical problem. He also said that the aircraft was conducting two anti-submarine drills at night.

Then at 10:38 pm local time, contact with a helicopter was lost near Torishima Island. A minute later, an emergency signal was received from this aircraft.

Just 25 minutes later, the military realized that contact had also been lost with another aircraft in the same area.

During the exercise on Saturday night, two helicopters had a total of eight crew members each.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida expressed his deepest condolences in the parliament on Monday (April 22). He said, “It is very sad that we have lost our personnel who were engaged in very tough training in the middle of the night.”