TOKYO, April 10 (NNN-KYODO) – Japan Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya said Wednesday that a Japanese F-35A fighter jet, which disappeared from radar over the Pacific during an exercise the previous day, crashed.
Iwaya told reporters that wreckage from what is believed to be the stealth fighter has been found floating in the Pacific. “We’ll do our best to find the missing pilot,” he said.
Search operations by the Self-Defense Forces and the Japan Coast Guard are continuing. The single-seat jet disappeared after taking off from Misawa Air Base in northeastern Japan around 7 p.m. Tuesday. Its pilot was a major in his 40s, a senior Defense Ministry official said.
The jet that crashed into the Pacific is shown during an exercise in May, 2018 . Photo courtesy of Kyodo
The fighter was flying with three other aircraft off the coast of Aomori Prefecture, some 135 kilometers east of the base, when radar contact was lost around 7:25 p.m., according to the Air Self-Defense Force.
Japan began deploying F-35As, costing more than 10 billion yen ($90 million) each, in January last year, to replace the aging F-4 model. An F-35A squadron with 80 personnel was formed last month at the Misawa base.
Japan plans to deploy a total of 105 F-35As, in addition to 42 F-35B short take-off aircraft that it will purchase at a later date.
Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya updates reporters on the crash. Photo courtesy of Kyodo
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