One dead, 7 missing after 2 Japanese navy choppers crash in Pacific

INA-  sources 

Two Japanese navy helicopters carrying eight crew members crashed in the Pacific Ocean south of Tokyo during a nighttime training flight after possibly colliding with each other, the country's defense minister said Sunday. One crew member who had been recovered from the waters was later pronounced dead, while rescuers searched for seven others who were still missing.

The two SH-60K choppers from the Maritime Self Defense Force were carrying four crew each and lost contact late Saturday near Torishima Island about 370 miles south of Tokyo, Defense Minister Minoru Kihara told reporters.

The cause of the crash was not immediately known, but the two helicopters might have collided with each other before crashing into the water, Kihara said.
 
Rescuers have recovered a flight data recorder, a blade from each helicopter, and fragments believed to be from both choppers in the same area, signs that the two SH-60Ks were flying close to each other, Kihara said. Officials will analyze the flight data to try to determine what led to the crash.
 
The MSDF deployed eight warships and five aircraft for the search and rescue of the missing crew.

Saturday's crash comes a year after a Ground Self-Defense Force UH-60 Blackhawk crashed off the southwestern Japanese island of Miyako, leaving all 10 crew members dead. In January 2022, a Air Self-Defense F-15 fighter jet crashed off the northcentral coast of Japan, killing two crew.

Japan's NHK public television said no weather advisories were issued in the area at the time of Saturday's crash.