Japan starts emergency inspections on nearly 200 military training planes after crash
Japan 's air force has begun emergency safety inspections on all of its nearly 200 military training aircraft after one of the planes crashed minutes after takeoff, officials said Thursday.
The T-4 training aircraft, operated by the Japan Air Self-Defense Force, or JASDF, and carrying two service members, crashed into a reservoir Wednesday, minutes after taking off from Komaki Air Base in the central Japanese prefecture of Aichi.
While the search operation for the missing aircraft and the two crew members continued Thursday, the military announced that it had started emergency inspections on all remaining 196 of the training planes deployed at JASDF bases across the country.
Their operation has been suspended since the crash and they will remain grounded until the cause is identified and safety checks are completed, Hiroaki Uchikura, the air force chief of staff, told reporters on Wednesday.
The crash is the latest in a series of defense aircraft accidents in recent years and comes at a time when Japan is accelerating a military buildup to deter China 's influence in the region and double its defense spending, raising concern that funding for weapons may be prioritized over safety measures.
The crashed plane was a 36-year-old T-4 operated out of Nyutabaru Air Base, in the southern prefecture of Miyazaki. It wasn't fitted with a voice recorder or a flight data recorder, a setback for the investigation.
Defense Minister Gen Nakatani on Thursday announced plans to promptly fit the training aircraft with voice and flight data recording equipment.
The JASDF said Thursday the plane experienced trouble when it reached an altitude of 4,000 feet (1,200 meters) about one minute after takeoff. Kyodo News agency said that air traffic control didn't receive any contact from the T-4 aircraft about an emergency.
The force said the plane was lost from radar two minutes after departure and crashed into a reservoir called the Iruka pond, about 10 kilometers (6 miles) northeast of the air base.
Witnesses told the NHK national broadcaster that they heard a loud noise like thunder at the time of the crash.
Debris believed to be of the aircraft, as well as lifesaving equipment and helmets of the crew were found near the reservoir.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
10 hours ago
- BBC News
Portsmouth navy veterans' lives 'blighted' by gay ban
"You were living a double life, always looking over your shoulder."As Portsmouth finds itself at the heart of UK Pride this weekend, an iconic war vessel in the Hampshire city has been covered in rainbow colours to also mark 25 years since a ban on LGBT people serving in the military was Historic Quarter and military charity Fighting with Pride came together last month to celebrate LGBTQ+ veterans, by wrapping Landing Craft F8 in rainbow navy veterans have been speaking to the BBC about their experiences serving in the military under the ban. Until January 2000, the "gay ban" saw many LGBT people who served their country face dishonourable discharge, loss of medals and criminal charges because of their sexuality. Roly Woods is a former Sub Lt in the Royal Navy who served on HMS Leeds Castle during the Falklands said he hid his sexuality so that he could continue his military career."At one stage during my naval career, I was challenged by my commanding officer, who heard rumours that I had been seen by officers with a man," he said."I was called up to his office, sat down, and plainly asked – 'are you gay?'."Right there and then I had to decide, 'do I throw everything away, or do I lie?'.Choosing "in that split second" to lie, he said he "got away with it"."But it was an extremely difficult situation to deal with, both professionally and personally, and I wrestled with it for many years," he said. He said when he joined the navy "all the services in the UK Armed Forces were institutionally homophobic"."You were living a double life, always looking over your shoulder," he said. "I couldn't be out and open with my closest colleagues and friends."Not because I thought they would out me but I didn't want to put them in the position of having to choose - once they knew, they were culpable as well for not declaring it."He said "bottling it all up for decades" is not something that can be switched off overnight."There are other veterans who are completely broken, whose lives were blighted by this ban - they were dismissed, lost their family, lost their income, many lost their homes, some took their own lives," he said. 'Degree of guilt' When the gay ban was in place, the Royal Navy Special Investigation Branch (SIB) was responsible for investigating criminal offences within the navy, which included being Master at Arms in the Royal Navy Gavin Moulds served in the SIB from 1994 to said: "The ban, the way it was enforced, and to the level it was enforced, was never something I agreed with. "However, I cannot help but still feel a degree of guilt for my involvement – an apology would not be enough." But Mr Moulds said there was a "mental detachment and a professional requirement" in working for the SIB."In my experience, we behaved professionally towards any person that we dealt with," he Moulds said of the ban: "It was wrong. It's wrong today, it was wrong then and it should never have happened."The way some of those people were treated was horrendous." You can follow BBC Hampshire & Isle of Wight on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Daily Mail
Prince William fans swoon as British royal dons Air Corps uniform and scruffy beard
Prince William has caused quite the stir on social media after posting photos in his Air Corps uniform. Fans couldn't stop swooning over the future king and Colonel-in-Chief, 42, as he donned the classic buttoned-up camo uniform and a grey beret during a visit to the Army Air Corps (ACC) in Wattisham, Suffolk, on Wednesday. The Prince of Wales, who also sported a scruffy beard, shared a series of photos from the outing to his and his wife Kate Middleton 's official Instagram afterwards. One photo showed Prince William starring intensely at a computer screen, while another featured him passing out meals to soldiers and their families. A different shot saw the Duke of Cornwall walking as he looked off to the side. 'Proud to visit the Army Air Corps as its Colonel-in-Chief. Great to spend time with the soldiers and their families here at Wattisham Air Base,' the post's caption read. 'Thank you for the warm welcome and heartening to see the strength of the regiment's community. 'Very impressed by the relentless commitment, physical capability and mental acuity on display at the combat PT session. An excellent reflection of the Army Air Corps' readiness and professionalism. 'A huge thank you to the soldiers and families of the AAC for the warm welcome - and for everything you do.' People rushed to the comment section and were ecstatic to see William all dressed up in the uniform and rocking some facial hair, with some calling him 'handsome' and others branding him 'hot.' 'Well, I think I can speak on behalf of womankind... we are HERE for the beard,' one user wrote. 'Dear god…! Our future kings is not supposed to be this hot,' another person shared. 'Prince William has entered his DILF era...' joked someone else. A fourth comment read: 'Talk about aging well...' while a fifth said, 'Wow... so handsome.' 'WOW!!!! William is so so hot, the older he gets the more good-looking he gets,' a different person observed. 'Look, dude, stop posting the beard and beret combo pics. It's not right for a future king to be that damn hot,' another commented. The Prince of Wales, who also sported a scruffy beard, shared a series of photos from the outing to his and his wife Kate Middleton 's official Instagram afterwards People rushed to the comment section and were ecstatic to see William dressed up in the uniform and rocking some facial hair, with some calling him 'handsome' and 'hot' 'Normally I'm not a fan of beards, but this beard has me fanning myself,' someone else said. 'The beard is bearding,' penned one fan. Other comments read: 'Always a good day when William is in uniform,' 'Ageing like a fine wine,' 'His Royal Highness looks amazing,' and, 'He looks like a movie star with that beard.' The trip to Wattisham, Suffolk marked the first time he toured the regiment since become the Colonel-in Chief of the Army Corps in 2024, per the New York Post. William completed his training as a helicopter pilot in the RAF Search and Rescue Force back in 2010, later flying an air ambulance two years before stepping down to take on more royal roles on behalf of Queen Elizabeth.
The Guardian
2 days ago
- The Guardian
Australia v Japan: World Cup 2026 qualifying
Update: Date: 2025-06-05T10:09:54.000Z Title: Content: The Socceroos have not beaten Japan for 16 years. Coach Tony Popovic insists that can change tonight. Every game is significant for the Socceroos. But, obviously, these last two games, for automatic qualification, we know what we need to do; we need to put that into action, and we're confident we can do that. Update: Date: 2025-06-05T10:06:05.000Z Title: Joey Lynch Content: My colleague is on the ground at Optus Stadium to bring you the match report later. #AUSvJPN Update: Date: 2025-06-05T10:04:42.000Z Title: Jack Snape Content: On to those pesky permutations. Here is where things stand: The general gist is the Socceroos can all but secure their place with a win tonight; a draw or loss make things a bit more complicated. has broken everything down in more detail here: Even if they win tonight, we won't know whether Australia have qualified automatically for absolute 100% fully certain sureness until after the Saudi Arabia v Bahrain match kicking off at Friday 2am AEST. Update: Date: 2025-06-05T10:00:45.000Z Title: Preamble Content: G'day and welcome to the Guardian's live coverage of the World Cup 2026 qualifier between Australia and Japan in Perth. My name is Jo Khan and I'm here to take you through the pre-game news, live football and some post-match analysis. At the moment my brain hurts from thinking about the Group C permutations and what it means for Australia but one thing is locked in – the Samurai Blue have already booked their spot at the North America tournament. However, it is most definitely a crunch match for Australia, can they lock in an automatic qualification? Looking back to the Socceroos most recent outing in this Asian qualifying campaign, it was goals from Jackson Irvine and Nishan Velupillay that gave Australia a crucial 2-0 win in China in late March. This solidified their spot just below Japan in the Group C table – I'll get to those details shortly. To the task at hand now, if you have any comments or questions feel free to send me an email. Kick-off is in just over an hour: 7.10pm local / 9.10pm AEST / 8.10pm JST Let's get into it!
