Body part found from Japan army chopper crash

TOKYO: Japanese authorities said they had recovered a body part during the search for a crew member missing in a deadly military helicopter crash in the country’s southwest.

The Apache helicopter crashed on Monday in a residential area in Saga province, killing co-pilot Hiroki Takayama and leaving lead pilot Kenichi Saito missing. “We were informed that a body part was found. But we’re still confirming the identity of the body part,” a defence ministry spokesman said yesterday.

The helicopter crashed in Saga prefecture seven minutes after takeoff, slamming into and setting on fire a house that was completely destroyed in the accident.

An 11-year-old girl was in the house at the time, but survived with minor injuries.

Video footage captured by a camera in a nearby car showed the helicopter dropping from the sky almost vertically, with its nose pointing directly towards the ground.

The crash site was just 300m from a local elementary school and sent a thick plume of grey smoke rising from in between the rooftops of local houses.

The AH-64 Apache attack helicopter was conducting a test flight after routine maintenance at the time of the accident, and had taken off from a Self-Defence Forces (SDF) base, according to the defence ministry.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe offered said his government would investigate the incident. — AFP