All 9 crewmen confirmed dead in Japan helicopter crash
Baku March 6, AZERTAC
Six additional crew members of a Nagano prefectural government helicopter that crashed in a central Japan mountain area on Sunday were confirmed dead on Monday, meaning that all nine people aboard lost their lives, according to Jiji Press.
On Monday, rescue workers from the prefectural police and fire departments and the Self-Defense Forces found the six bodies with no signs of life inside the wrecked helicopter, which plunged into Mount Hachibuse in Nagano Prefecture. They were confirmed dead at a hospital.
The remaining three were pronounced dead on Sunday. The nine crew members, all men, were prefectural government workers.
The 15-seat Bell 412EP helicopter for firefighting and rescue operations left Shinshu Matsumoto Airport in Matsumoto, Nagano, around 1:30 p.m. Sunday (4:30 a.m. GMT) for mountain rescue training, with the pilot, a mechanic and seven firefighters aboard.
The crew was scheduled to conduct a fast-roping drill for rescues of alpine accident victims in the air near the crash site and return to the airport shortly after 3 p.m.
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