A person believed to be a crew member was located in the Sea of Japan, with a rescue being mounted, NHK reported.
More to follow
The ASDF, in cooperation with the Japan Coast Guard,
searched the area and discovered a section of the aircraft body
and a fragment of the pilot's life-saving equipment,
according to the ministry.
The ministry concluded that the F-15 jet is likely to have crashed.
The aircraft's two crew members are unaccounted for.
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2022/ ... ter-found/Feb 14, 2022
The Air Self-Defense Force said Monday it had discovered the bodies of the two pilots who were aboard an ASDF F-15 fighter jet that crashed into the Sea of Japan late last month.
One was discovered on Friday and the other on Sunday, the ASDF said, without disclosing which pilot was found on which day, to avoid affecting the investigation of the accident.
The ASDF said the bodies were discovered by Marine Self-Defense Force divers and were transported to the ASDF Komatsu air base in Komatsu, Ishikawa Prefecture.
The incident took place around 5:30 p.m. on Jan. 31. The F-15 fighter from the air base’s tactical fighter training group disappeared off radar about 5 kilometers west-northwest of the base, roughly one minute after taking off during a nighttime training exercise.
Two pilots — Col. Koji Tanaka, 52, and Capt. Ryusei Ueta, 33 — were aboard the aircraft.
So far, some sections of the plane have been discovered, including an engine exhaust outlet, fuel tubing and the vertical tail fin bearing the aircraft’s number.
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