The Self-Defense Forces have found what appears to be the fuselage of a missing SDF helicopter on the seabed about 100 meters below the ocean surface north of Irabu Island, Okinawa Prefecture.
The Thursday night search by a Maritime Self-Defense Force vessel also discovered what appear to be bodies in the fuselage-like object, according to sources connected to the government. It is thought that the wreckage contains the bodies of the crew and other personnel who were aboard the helicopter when it went missing.
The site of the wreckage is close to where the Ground Self-Defense Force UH-60JA multipurpose helicopter disappeared from radar April 6 shortly after takeoff from Miyako Island. What is believed to be the fuselage is heavily damaged, according to the sources.
