Crews searching for a Japan Self-Defense Forces helicopter that went missing with 10 personnel aboard off the southern prefecture of Okinawa last week found what are believed to be the remains of several people Friday.
Also, having spotted what appears to be a major part of the UH-60JA helicopter on the ocean floor about 100 meters in depth, SDF members are trying to approach the debris and bodies by sending divers there.
But the attempt to perform saturation diving, a technique that allows them to work at great depths for lengthy periods, was halted due to equipment flaws, according to a government source.
The latest development comes after searchers on Thursday night located what appeared to be a body and a key part of the helicopter that 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.
The discoveries were made on the northern side of Irabu Island, connected by a bridge to Miyako Island, using a minesweeper's sonar and an unmanned underwater camera. The helicopter part sustained heavy damage.
The government plans to have a private salvage company retrieve the part after recovering bodies from the seafloor.
Other debris has been located on the shores of Irabu Island.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida expressed his gratitude to those involved in the search, which has continued around the clock, and vowed to do his best to return the remains of the 10 personnel to their families as soon as possible.
The crash is believed to be an aviation accident, although the exact cause 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 activate automatically upon impact, according to officials.
The helicopter underwent a special inspection in late March after 50 flying hours and was taken for a one-hour flight to check its safety, but no abnormalities were found at the time, according to the GSDF.
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