Missing gov't helicopter crashed on mountain in central Japan

TOKYO - A local Japanese government helicopter that went missing in the central Japan prefecture of Gunma on Friday was confirmed by the Self-Defense Force (SDF) to have crashed on a mountain in the area, the transport ministry said.

Eight out of the nine members aboard the chopper have been found but there has been no information released as yet about their condition or any fatalities as a result of the crash, local rescue officials said.

According to the authorities, the chopper was one of the prefecture's disaster prevention helicopters and lost contact with air traffic controllers shortly past 10 am local time after taking off at 9:15 am.

The chopper was scheduled to return to its heliport in Maebashi City, Gunma Prefecture, at 10:45 am, prefectural officials said.

The helicopter was supposed to be observing a hiking trail, which spans Gunma, Nagano and Niigata prefectures when contact was lost, officials said.

The transport ministry said the helicopter was a Bell 412EP helicopter and had began operations in May 1997, clocking around 7,000 flight hours.

The same model of helicopter crashed in March last year killing nine occupants and in November last year another crash involving the same model killing four people aboard.