Latest news with #JapanAirSelfDefenseForce
NHK
25-05-2025
- Politics
- NHK
Chinese fighter jets take off from, land on aircraft carrier off Senkaku Islands
Japan's Defense Ministry announced on Sunday that the Chinese Navy's aircraft carrier Liaoning sailed in the East China Sea off the coast of the Senkaku Islands in Okinawa Prefecture. The ministry says fighter jets took off from the carrier and landed on it. The ministry said Liaoning and four other ships were confirmed to be sailing in the ocean about 200 kilometers north of Kubashima Island at around 7 a.m. on Sunday. It said fighter jets and helicopters were confirmed taking off and landing on the Liaoning. The Japan Air Self-Defense Force scrambled fighter jets. There was no violation of Japan's airspace. This is the first time the defense ministry has announced takeoffs and landings of fighter jets using a Chinese aircraft carrier sailing in the East China Sea. The ministry said Japan is going through diplomatic channels to express interest in the recent stepped-up activities of the Chinese military. On May 3, a China Coast Guard helicopter violated Japan's territorial airspace around the Senkaku Islands, and the ministry continues surveillance in the area.
CTV News
22-05-2025
- General
- CTV News
Japan's air force confirms the deaths of 2 crew in a training plane crash
Firefighters gather for a search operation as a Japanese air force plane crashed after taking off for a training flight, at a pond in Inuyama, central Japan, Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (Kyodo News via AP) TOKYO — Japan's air force chief on Thursday confirmed the deaths of two service members whose training aircraft crashed last week. The T-4 plane with two aboard crashed into a reservoir minutes after takeoff from Komaki Air Base in the central Japanese prefecture of Aichi on May 14. Air Self-Defense Force Chief of Staff Gen. Hiroaki Uchikura told reporters Thursday that autopsies showed that the two, aged 29 and 31 years, died two minutes after takeoff. The cause of the crash is under investigation. The air force grounded all remaining 196 of the training planes for emergency inspection. 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 growing influence in the region. Japan has doubled its defense spending, raising concern that funding for weapons may be prioritized over safety.
Washington Post
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
Japan's air force confirms the deaths of 2 crew in a training plane crash
TOKYO — Japan's air force chief on Thursday confirmed the deaths of two service members whose training aircraft crashed last week. The T-4 plane with two aboard crashed into a reservoir minutes after takeoff from Komaki Air Base in the central Japanese prefecture of Aichi on May 14. Air Self-Defense Force Chief of Staff Gen. Hiroaki Uchikura told reporters Thursday that autopsies showed that the two, aged 29 and 31 years, died two minutes after takeoff. The cause of the crash is under investigation. The air force grounded all remaining 196 of the training planes for emergency inspection . 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 growing influence in the region. Japan has doubled its defense spending, raising concern that funding for weapons may be prioritized over safety.
The Independent
22-05-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Japan's air force confirms the deaths of 2 crew in a training plane crash
Japan's air force chief on Thursday confirmed the deaths of two service members whose training aircraft crashed last week. The T-4 plane with two aboard crashed into a reservoir minutes after takeoff from Komaki Air Base in the central Japanese prefecture of Aichi on May 14. Air Self-Defense Force Chief of Staff Gen. Hiroaki Uchikura told reporters Thursday that autopsies showed that the two, aged 29 and 31 years, died two minutes after takeoff. The cause of the crash is under investigation. The air force grounded all remaining 196 of the training planes for emergency inspection. 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 growing influence in the region. Japan has doubled its defense spending, raising concern that funding for weapons may be prioritized over safety.
CTV News
15-05-2025
- General
- CTV News
Japan starts emergency inspections on nearly 200 military training planes after crash
A member of Japan's Self-Defense Forces hold objects believed to be debris from an Air Self-Defense Force trainer jet after they retrieved from a reservoir in Inuyama, central Japan, Thursday, May 15, 2025, following the trainer jet crash Wednesday. (Koji Harada/Kyodo News via AP) TOKYO — 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 metres) 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 kilometres (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. Mari Yamaguchi, The Associated Press
