Firefighters gather for a search operation as a Japanese air force plane crashed after taking off for a training flight, at a pond in Inuyama, central Japan, Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (Kyodo News via AP)
Firefighters gather for a search operation as a Japanese air force plane crashed after taking off for a training flight, at a pond in Inuyama, central Japan, Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (Kyodo News via AP)
TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s air force chief on Thursday confirmed the deaths of two service members whose training aircraft crashed last week.
The T-4 plane with two aboard crashed into a reservoir minutes after takeoff from Komaki Air Base in the central Japanese prefecture of Aichi on May 14.
Air Self-Defense Force Chief of Staff Gen. Hiroaki Uchikura told reporters Thursday that autopsies showed that the two, aged 29 and 31 years, died two minutes after takeoff.
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The cause of the crash is under investigation. The air force grounded all remaining 196 of the training planes for .
The crash is the latest in a series of defense aircraft accidents in recent years and comes at a time when to deter China’s growing influence in the region. Japan has doubled its defense spending, raising concern that funding for weapons may be prioritized over safety.
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