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Japanese authorities search for missing jet

February 1, 2022

A Japanese F-15 jet disappeared on a training mission, with authorities looking for two missing crew members. The government believes the jet likely crashed.

https://p.dw.com/p/46LDi
Two J.A.S.D.F F-15 aircrafts flight close to a U.S.A.F KC-135R Stratotanker during a refueling training exercise held off the Kyushu island coast, in south Japan, Tuesday 19 April 2005.
Japan has around 200 F-15 jetsImage: Hitoshi Maeshiro/epa/dpa/picture alliance

Japanese authorities are conducting search and rescue operations on Tuesday after an F-15 jet went missing.

What do we know so far?

The jet belongs to Japan's air self-defense forces. 

The government has deployed aircraft and sea vessels to hunt for two missing crew members.

The jet disappeared shortly after departure on Monday, and went missing about 5 kilometers (roughly 3 miles) from the Komatsu airbase in Japan's central region of Ishikawa.

The Japanese government believes the aircraft crashed.

"As part of the fuselage of the fighter jet was discovered in the area, the fighter jet is believed to have crashed," Japanese government spokesperson Hirokazu Matsuno told reporters on Tuesday.

The reason for the crash is still unclear. 

An earlier Japanese media report suggested one of the crew members had been found in Sea of Japan, but the government dismissed this as rumor.

In 2019, a Japanese F-35 jet crashed into the sea, with authorities conducting similar search and rescue operations. The pilot reportedly suffered from spatial disorientation prior to the crash.

wd/msh (AFP, Reuters)