Japan military chopper with 10 aboard crashes

Tokyo, April 6

Japan on Thursday said rescue efforts were under way to locate any survivors after one of its military helicopters carrying 10 people crashed in the sea near Miyakojima, part of the country’s southwest Okinawa island chain.

The UH60 troop transport, commonly known as the Black Hawk, disappeared from radar tracking after leaving a Ground Self Defense Force base on Miyakojima, General Yasunori Morishita, the head of the GSDF, said at a press briefing. The aircraft was patrolling the waters around Miyakojima during an aerial reconnaissance mission, Morishita said.

Chinese navy vessels traveling to the Pacific Ocean from the East China Sea often pass close to Miyakojima, which has hosted GSDF mobile anti-ship missile launchers since 2019. — Reuters

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