Tokyo, 14 April, /AJMEDIA/
Crews searching for a Japan Self-Defense Forces helicopter that went missing with 10 personnel aboard off the southern prefecture of Okinawa last week have found what are believed to be several bodies, a government source said Friday.
The latest discoveries come after searchers on Thursday night located what appeared to be a body and a major part of the UH-60JA helicopter which disappeared from radar shortly after taking off from a base on Miyako Island on April 6 at 3:46 p.m.
Those aboard the helicopter included Lt Gen Yuichi Sakamoto, the 55-year-old commander of the Ground Self-Defense Force’s 8th Division based in Kumamoto Prefecture.
According to the government source, an underwater camera showed severe damage to the piece of the helicopter that was found northeast of Irabu Island, an island connected by bridge to Miyako Island.
Other debris has been located on the shores of Irabu Island.
The SDF and the Japan Coast Guard have been searching around the clock.
Minesweepers, submarine rescue vessels, aircraft and patrol vessels were deployed. SDF personnel have also searched on land.
The cause of the crash remains unknown. Neither of the two air traffic control centers in the area received a distress signal from the helicopter’s emergency locator transmitter which is designed to automatically activate on impact, according to officials.
