TOKYO (AP) — A lack of instructions for the crew and their failure to maintain surveillance and communication led two Japanese navy helicopters to collide during training, killing all eight people on board, a Japanese navy report said Tuesday. -fair.
The Maritime Self-Defense Force’s two SH-60K reconnaissance helicopters fell in April during night anti-submarine training near the island of Torishima, about 600 kilometers (370 mi) south of Tokyo, while flying to the same simulated target to detect a submarine.
Just before the collision, the two helicopters — while flying in different locations — headed toward the same target based on a submarine detection scenario, according to the Maritime Personnel Office investigation report. They were under the control of two separate officers who were giving instructions to the two aircraft, the report added.
The absence of collision avoidance maneuvers on either side indicates that both helicopters misjudged the distance between them, the report said. Then, the nose of the helicopter that was flying straight collided with the left side of the other that was rotating clockwise at the same altitude, the report said.
It noted that the crew failed to maintain adequate surveillance or share information, while its two commanders also failed to communicate with the crew or give adequate instructions to each helicopter, for example, to fly at different altitudes.
In the report, the MSO states that it is necessary to ensure adequate surveillance of crew members, the modernization of equipment, such as the installation of a proximity warning system, and the requirement for adequate communication between responsible officers.
“We take seriously the results of the investigation into the accident that claimed the lives of eight people and are doing everything we can to take preventive measures, with the determination not to have any more victims,” said the Minister of Defense. Minoru Kihara said at a press conference.
Kihara said flight training involving several SH-60Ks would resume on Tuesday. Helicopter training had been restricted to solo flights since the accident.
The crisis occurred when Japan, under its Security strategy for 2022, decided to accelerate its military development and strengthen its defenses on Japan’s southwestern islands to counter China’s increasingly assertive military activity.
Tokyo quickly expanded naval exercises and joint exercises with the United States and other partners in the last years.
The twin-engine multi-mission helicopters developed by Sikorsky and known as Seahawks were modified and produced in Japan by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. The report said there were no mechanical problems involved in the accident. Japan has about 70 of them.
