1 Dead, 7 Missing After 2 JMSDF Helicopters Crash in the Pacific Ocean

Japan’s minister of defense said the cause was still being investigated, but called a mid-air collision a “high possibility.” Two Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force helicopters crashed late on April 20 during nighttime training near the Izu Islands, leaving one crew member dead and seven others missing. Japan’s Defense Minister Kihara Minoru said in a nationally televised news conference on the following day that two Mitsubishi-built SH-60K anti-submarine warfare helicopters, each with a crew of four, lost communications at around 10:38 p.m. and 11:04 p.m. local time on April 20, respectively, above waters about 150 nautical miles east of Torishima Island, part of the Izu island chain south of Tokyo in the Pacific Ocean. Kihara said that the cause of the crash was being still investigated after the two SH-60K helicopters’ flight recorders were found close together, adding that “there is a high possibility of a collision in mid-air.” Kihara also said on April 22 that no data have been found so far indicating the aircraft had any abnormalities, suggesting the crash was caused by human error, not a technical glitch. In August 2017, an MSDF SH-60J patrol helicopter, the predecessor to SH-60K involved in the latest accident, crashed off the coast of Aomori Prefecture, killing two people and leaving one missing.