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| A JMSDF SH-60J Seahawk helicopter (Image: Wiki Commons) |
TOKYO, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force (MSDF) said on Thursday that a recent helicopter crash off northeastern Japan was caused by human error, and flights of helicopters of the same type will be resumed.
Three of the four crewmen aboard the helicopter were still missing and the MSDF is continuing searching for them.
A SH-60J patrol helicopter belonging to the MSDF lost contact during a landing and takeoff drill on a destroyer off Aomori Prefecture, northeastern Japan on Aug. 26.
Four people were on board the helicopter. One of them was rescued some 40 minutes after the incident, while the other three remained missing.
Part of the wreckage of the helicopter was found later around the crash area. The water at the crash site is about 2,600 meters deep.
According to the MSDF, based on data from the flight recorder and the account of a rescued crew member, the crash happened when the crew members were focusing on fixing an error with the bearing indicator and failed to notice the chopper was losing balance.
Read the full story at Xinhua