In this file photot taken on Nov 17, 2004, an F-15 jet fighter of Japan's Air Self-Defense Force takes off at Nyutabal air base in Shintomi town, Miyazaki Prefecture. (KAZUHIRO NOGI / AFP)
TOKYO – Japan's Air Self-Defense Force said Monday the body of a second crew member of a fighter jet that crashed into the Sea of Japan last month has been recovered and pronounced dead.
The F-15 fighter jet, with two members on board, crashed into the Sea of Japan on Jan 31 shortly after taking off from the Komatsu Air Base in Ishikawa Prefecture which faces the Sea of Japan in the Chubu Region of the country.
According to ASDF officials and local media accounts, search and rescue personnel located and recovered the second body on Sunday in waters close to where the jet crashed
According to ASDF officials and local media accounts, search and rescue personnel located and recovered the second body on Sunday in waters close to where the jet crashed.
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The first body was located and recovered on Friday, according to the reports and the ASDF officials.
The official said the pilots have been named as 52-year-old Colonel Koji Tanaka and 33-year-old Captain Ryusei Ueta.
Both have now been confirmed dead, the officials said.
Soon after take-off, the jet disappeared from radar approximately 5 km west-northwest of the Ishikawa base at around 5:30 pm local time on Jan 31.
Japanese officials were quoted as saying that the fighter did not send an emergency signal before it went missing and no calls reporting irregularities or rescue signals from the F-15 were received.
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ASDF officials said they believe flight conditions deteriorated so rapidly that the two-person crew did not have time to respond to the conditions before the jet hit the sea.
The Japan Coast Guard subsequently dispatched patrol boats to the area thought to be the crash site, and the defense ministry said debris believed to be from the missing aircraft was found off the coast of Ishikawa Prefecture.
Thereafter, a piece of the plane's tail was located at the bottom of the sea, which will be salvaged this week by a commercial vessel, the ministry said.
The downed jet belonged to an ASDF unit that specializes in research on combat technology and education, local media said. The unit only operates at the Komatsu Base.
The F-15 jets are currently the ASDF's mainstay fighter and some 200 are deployed at bases across the country.
While the cause of the crash is still being investigated, the crash has highlighted the fact that Japan's F-15s have been in service for a long time, with the ASDF planning to replace a number of the aged fighters
While the cause of the crash is still being investigated, the crash has highlighted the fact that Japan's F-15s have been in service for a long time, with the ASDF planning to replace a number of the aged fighters.
The ASDF said the jet that crashed had been in operation since 1993 and clocked almost 6,000 hours of flight time.
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The ASDF introduced the fix-winged fighter in the early 1980s, but those that have been operational here from 1981 to 1984 are set to be replaced by 105 F-35A and 42 F-35B fifth generation, multirole stealth fighters over the coming decade, the ASDF has confirmed.