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Japan's MOD confirms death of all 6 crew members in small plane crash

Xinhua, April 8, 2016 Adjust font size:

Japan's Defense Ministry said on Friday that all six crew members aboard an Air Self-Defense Force (ASDF) plane that crashed in a mountainous region in southwestern Japan have been confirmed dead.

Defense Minister Gen Nakatani expressed his deep regret and remorse at the tragedy, saying the six-member crew all had bright futures that were taken away prematurely by the fatal accident in the prefecture of Kagoshima.

"It's extremely regrettable and sad that competent crew members with a bright future ahead suffered such an accident," Nakatani told a press briefing.

Four of the crew were found on Thursday with no vital signs and the other two found lifeless on Friday.

Local media broadcast pictures of an SDF helicopter airlifting the bodies off Mt. Takakuma, the location of the crash site, which straddles the cities of Kanoya and Tarumizu.

The ministry said they were being taken to the nearby Kanoya airbase, from which the ill-fated jet had departed on Wednesday.

While confirming it had located the remaining two of the six who were on board the U-125 jet earlier Friday, the ministry said it had found the wreckage of the plane scattered across a wide area in a ravine on Mt. Takakuma, about 600 meters east of the mountain's peak.

The ministry said it believes the jet was flying at an altitude of about 900 meters above sea level when it crashed on the mountain.

The aircraft, used to check the condition of aircraft navigation facilities, disappeared from radar on Wednesday about 10 km north of the Kanoya airbase in the prefecture.

The defense ministry said the final communications between the plane and the Kanoya base's air traffic controller were not unusual.

The pilot, Major Masaru Hiraoka, had logged more than 6,000 flying hours, it said.

Following a massive search and rescue operation with more than 600 SDF personnel, 20 ASDF investigators were deployed to the crash site to try and determine the cause of the accident.

Last year, a Maritime Self-Defense Force (MSDF) helicopter from the Kanoya base crashed on a mountain in Miyazaki Prefecture, next to Kagoshima, killing all three aboard. Endit