Helicopter pieces found in search for crashed Japanese Black Hawk

An unused lifeboat, a door and other fragments believed to be from a Japanese army helicopter have been found after the Black Hawk carrying 10 crew members was presumed to have crashed at sea, officials said.

Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada, struggling to hold back tears, told reporters that none of the missing crew members have been found as the search continued on Friday.

"We conducted search and rescue operations in the area throughout the night, but we have yet to find General (Yuichi) Sakamoto of the Ground Self Defence Force 8th division as well as the nine other individuals," he said, his voice quivering.

He said he took the accident seriously and would take all precautions for the safe operations of Self Defense Force aircraft.

"We will make every effort to find the 10 people who are missing," he said.

The UH-60JA Black Hawk helicopter disappeared on Thursday afternoon while on a reconnaissance mission in Japan's southern islands, according to the head of the Ground Self-Defense Force, Yasunori Morishita.

It disappeared from radar only 10 minutes after departing from a base on Miyako Island and is believed to have crashed into the water between Miyako and nearby Irabu Island to the northwest.

The area is about 1,800 kilometres (1,120 miles) southwest of Tokyo.

READ MORE:Japanese army's Black Hawk helicopter carrying 10 crew members missing

Debris found

Coast guard patrol ships found an unused lifeboat whose serial number matched that of the missing helicopter and a door believed to belong to the same aircraft near the presumed crash site, army officials said.

Japan is aggressively building up its defence capability in its southwestern islands in response to China’s military activity in the region, including near Taiwan.

According to the Defense Ministry, Japan started deploying the Black Hawk, a twin-engine, four-bladed utility helicopter developed by US manufacturer Sikorsky Aircraft and produced by the Mitsubishi Heavy Industry, in 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, Morishita said Thursday night. 

There was no indication yet of what caused the apparent accident, which occurred as the aircraft was on a reconnaissance mission in the area.

The army said the helicopter had a routine safety inspection in late March. No abnormality was found during its subsequent test flight or on its trip from its home base of Kumamoto to Miyako island.

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