Japan Military Jet Crash: Search Continues for Missing Pilots

(MENAFN) Search operations are still underway for two crew members missing after a Japan Air Self-Defense Force (ASDF) training aircraft plunged into a large reservoir in central Japan on Wednesday.

Efforts on Thursday included aerial, underwater, and ground searches at the crash site located in the reservoir at Inuyama, Aichi Prefecture. So far, fragments of the ASDF T-4 trainer jet and some of the crew's belongings, including part of a helmet, have been recovered, according to reports from a news outlet, citing the Self-Defense Forces.

The two missing crew members have been identified as Capt. Takuji Ioka, 31, and First Lt. Shota Amitani, 29. While Amitani was seated in the front and Ioka in the back, both seats are equipped with flight controls, and it remains unclear who was piloting the aircraft at the time of the crash.

The T-4 jet, which disappeared from radar two minutes after taking off from Komaki Air Base in Aichi Prefecture at approximately 3:06 p.m. on Wednesday, was en route to a base in southwestern Japan.

The aircraft, which belonged to Nyutabaru Air Base in Miyazaki Prefecture, was 36 years old. Authorities are facing challenges in the investigation, as the jet was not equipped with a flight recorder. In response, the ASDF has temporarily grounded other T-4 jets.

The crash adds to a concerning pattern of incidents involving Self-Defense Forces aircraft. Just a month earlier, on April 20, 2024, two Maritime Self-Defense Force SH-60K helicopters collided and crashed during a nighttime exercise near the Izu Islands, resulting in the deaths of all eight crew members. In another tragic incident on April 6, 2023, a Ground Self-Defense Force UH-60JA helicopter crashed off the coast of Miyakojima Island, killing all 10 aboard, including the commander of the Eighth Division.

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