Photo/Illutration A Japan Coast Guard helicopter searches an area off Irabujima island in Okinawa Prefecture on April 8 after a possible sighting of a body floating in the water. (Taro Ono)

Search efforts continued April 9 for a Ground Self-Defense Force helicopter that went missing three days earlier in Okinawa Prefecture with 10 officials aboard, the Defense Ministry and the Japan Coast Guard said.

The Miyakojima municipal fire department said it received a report from the GSDF late April 8 of a possible sighting of a body floating in the water off Irabujima island.

A JCG helicopter searched the area while SDF vehicles and an ambulance were dispatched there. But nothing was found as of early April 9.

The UH-60JA helicopter disappeared from radar screens near Miyakojima island at 3:56 p.m. on April 6, about 10 minutes after it took off from the ASDF Sub Base on the island.

The crew exchanged brief radio messages in English with flight controllers immediately before the craft lost contact. There were no indications that anything abnormal was happening, government sources said.

No distress signals were sent even though the helicopter is designed to automatically transmit emergency alerts in the event of a strong impact.

The 11th Regional Coast Guard Headquarters, based in Naha, discovered 12 objects floating in the sea, including a slide door of the helicopter and a lifeboat, on April 6-7.

The Defense Ministry, which deployed six aircraft from the Maritime and Air SDF as well as three MSDF vessels, has expanded the search areas in tandem with the coast guard, taking tides into account.

The MSDF minesweeper Shishijima is using sonar equipment that generates sound waves to search for underwater wreckage in the areas where floating objects were found.

If the helicopter is found, a submarine rescue ship will help to salvage the craft, officials said.

About 380 rescue personnel, up from 270 the previous day, are combing the ground for clues, mainly along the coasts of Miyakojima, Irabujima and Shimojishima islands.

The 10 officials aboard the helicopter included senior officials of the GSDF’s Eighth Division who were recently assigned, among them Lt. Gen. Yuichi Sakamoto, head of the division.

The division, which covers the prefectures of Kumamoto, Miyazaki and Kagoshima in southern Kyushu, is expected to be dispatched if an emergency occurs in the Nansei Islands, including Okinawa Prefecture.

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