Japan military helicopter pilot’s body found after crash into residential houses
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe apologised over the accident and said he ordered the grounding of all 12 similar models of aircraft
Japanese troops on Tuesday found a body believed to be of the pilot of a military helicopter that crashed nose down, killing the co-pilot and burning down two houses and ripping the top floor off one of them. One resident of the house was injured slightly.
The Boeing AH-64 combat helicopter, belonging to the Ground Self-Defence Force’s Metabaru training camp, crashed in Kanzaki city in Saga prefecture seven minutes into a test flight after routine maintenance, defence officials said. The crash site in a residential area was 6km (3.6 miles) from the base.
The defence ministry said the co-pilot suffered heart and lung failure and was later pronounced dead, and the pilot was missing. On Tuesday, ministry officials said a body found where troops searched through the wreckage was believed to be the pilot and was being identified.
Footage aired on Tuesday by public broadcaster NHK showed the moment of the fall, with the helicopter going out of control, spiralling and descending nose down. Earlier footage showed orange flames and black smoke rising from the charred house, which had its upper floor torn off. Witnesses reported a big boom and ripping noises from the sky before the crash.
