A Japan Air Self-Defense Force training plane with 2 people on board crashed in Inuyama, Aichi Prefecture, Central China, Friday afternoon. Rescue and investigation are underway.
The local police and fire department reported that the accident occurred after 15:00 on the same day, and several witnesses reported that“There is a suspected object falling from the plane.” The crash site was a large artificial agricultural irrigation reservoir in Inuyama.
The Defense Ministry said the plane, a T-4 training plane, took off from Omaki base in Aichi Prefecture at about 15:00 on the same day and was headed for a Nyutabaru Air Base in Miyazaki Prefecture. The signal disappeared from radar as the plane flew over Inuyama.
The Chief Cabinet Secretary, Lin Fang, said at a press conference that she had learned that the training plane had crashed shortly after take-off, and that the situation remained to be further confirmed by the Defense Ministry.
In recent years, Japan Self-Defense Forces a number of crashes involving F-35 fighters, F-15 fighters and multiple types of helicopters, killing a total of more than 20 people.