Japan’s defense ministry has announced that it has located two Maritime Self-Defense Force helicopters that crashed over the Pacific Ocean in April.
Two MSDF patrol helicopters collided during training off the shores of Torishima Island in the Izu Islands, south of Tokyo, killing eight crew members on board. The search for seven of the missing members as well as major helicopter parts is ongoing.
With the cooperation of the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, or JAMSTEC, the ministry has carried out its search using an unmanned deep-sea vehicle since July 15.
Officials announced on Monday it found the two choppers and confirmed their identity based on registration numbers and their appearance on the seabed below the accident site.
The waters around the site are roughly 5,500 meters deep. The ministry is to determine whether the helicopter wreckage can be salvaged after learning the detailed conditions of the chopper’s main bodies and the situation of the seabed.