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2 bodies lifted from sea after Japan Army helicopter crash
UH-60JA Black Hawk helicopter disappeared on April 6, shortly after takeoff from Miyako Island
The Japan Ground Self-Defense Force confirmed the recovery of two male crew members from the sunken wreckage of an army helicopter on Monday, 11 days after it went missing off a southern Japanese island.
The UH-60JA Black Hawk helicopter disappeared on April 6, shortly after takeoff from Miyako Island for a reconnaissance mission in Japan’s southern islands. The helicopter had a routine safety inspection in late March, and no abnormality was found during its subsequent test flight nor on its trip from Kumamoto to Miyako island.
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Special divers retrieved the remains of two crew members who were found along with the wreckage and three other crew members on the seabed that is 100 meters deep on Monday. However, the remaining five crew members who were on board the helicopter at the time of the crash are still unaccounted for. Additional pieces from the helicopter, such as an unused lifeboat and a door, were also found, but the army encountered difficulties in locating the entire aircraft due to the coral-rich deep sea in the area.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Two people found on Sunday following a deep-sea dive in search of a Self-Defense Forces helicopter have been confirmed dead, the Ground Self-Defense Force said. <a href="https://t.co/75iEdtSz9F">https://t.co/75iEdtSz9F</a></p>— The Japan Times (@japantimes) <a href="https://twitter.com/japantimes/status/1647738105015803904?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 16, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida expressed his profound sorrow for the deaths and promised to make every effort to locate the remaining missing crew members. He stressed that those who sacrificed their lives for the country’s defense should be reunited with their families promptly, while the government investigates the accident’s cause. Authorities are exploring options to retrieve the helicopter from the ocean floor to determine the reason for the crash.
The UH-60JA Black Hawk helicopter, a twin-engine, four-bladed utility helicopter developed by U.S. manufacturer Sikorsky Aircraft and produced by the Mitsubishi Heavy Industry, has been deployed in Japan since 1999 for rapid response, surveillance, and disaster relief missions. The helicopter was stationed at a key army base in Kumamoto prefecture on Japan’s southern main island of Kyushu, according to the Defense Ministry. One of its 10 crew members was Lt. Gen. Yuichi Sakamoto, who was just promoted to division commander at the end of March.
Japan is rapidly strengthening its defense capabilities in the southwestern islands as a response to China’s rising military aggression in the region, which includes activities near Taiwan. The recent helicopter accident underlines the potential dangers and difficulties of maintaining a robust military presence in the area. While the recovery efforts are ongoing, the Japanese people sympathize with the families of the missing crew members.
