Sightseeing helicopter crashes in southwest Japan
A sightseeing helicopter went missing Tuesday near a volcanic crater on Mt. Aso in Kumamoto Prefecture in southwestern Japan, with wreckage later found in the area, local firefighters and other sources said, Kyodo reported.
Two passengers, a man and a woman, and the 64-year-old pilot were aboard the helicopter, which departed at 10:52 a.m. from a zoo in Aso. Contact was lost about 10 minutes later, according to the helicopter operator, Takumi Enterprise, in Okayama, western Japan.
The missing chopper, a U.S.-made Robinson R44, was on a 10-minute tour. The whereabouts of the three remain unknown.
The helicopter was on its third sightseeing flight of the day when it went missing, and no abnormalities had been reported during the first two flights, the operator said. The pilot had more than 40 years of experience, it said.
The zoo, Aso Cuddly Dominion, offers panoramic helicopter rides over the area, which is famed for its volcanic landscapes.
A heavily damaged object resembling the body of a helicopter was found shortly after 4 p.m. on a slope inside the crater of Mt. Nakadake, one of the five peaks that make up Mt. Aso, firefighters said.
Conditions over the area on Tuesday morning were cloudy, making it difficult to see Mt. Nakadake clearly, according to the nearby Aso Volcano Museum.
A man in his 60s in charge of monitoring the no-entry area near the crater said, "I heard something go boom at around 11 a.m., but could not see what happened because it was foggy."
In May 2024, a sightseeing helicopter from the same zoo made an emergency landing on a mountain in Aso, injuring three people aboard. The operator was Takumi Enterprise.
Earlier, Qazinform News Agency reported that a plane carrying 11 people crashed in Indonesia.
