Three missing after Japan military helicopter loses contact over Sea of Japan

Reuters
A Japan Ground Self-Defense Forces vehicle moves toward a hoovering CH-47 helicopter during an annual live-fire exercise at the Higashi-Fuji firing range in Gotemba, at the foot of Mount Fuji in Shizuoka prefecture on August 24, 2017. The annual drill involves some 2,400 personnel, 80 tanks and armoured vehicles and some 20 aircraft and helicopters. (AFP)

TOKYO: Japan’s Defense Ministry on Sunday said it was searching for three crew members of a Maritime Self-Defense Force (MSDF) helicopter in the Sea of Japan after contact was lost with the chopper. One crew member had been rescued uninjured.
The ministry said the SH-60J anti-submarine warfare helicopter lost contact around 90 km (56 miles) off the coast of Aomori Prefecture late on Saturday.
It said the flight data recorder had been located, but did not say what had actually happened to the helicopter, whether it crashed or ditched into the sea. The MSDF has launched an investigation into the incident.
Earlier this month, four Japanese crew members were injured after their CH-101 chopper crashed on land during a training exercise at Iwakuni Air Base in Yamaguchi Prefecture in western Japan.