The Defense Ministry fears that a Ground Self-Defense Force aircraft crashed Monday in Hokkaido while heading to an airport to pick up an emergency medical patient, officials said.
Ground control lost contact with the LR-2 reconnaissance plane, carrying four male crew members, at around 11:45 a.m. as it was flying in rough weather near Uzura Dam in the town of Assabu, about 30 km west of Hakodate Airport where the plane was supposed to land, according to the ministry.
The twin-propeller plane took off from Sapporo Okadama Airport at about 11:25 a.m. It was planning to pick up a patient hospitalized in Hakodate, Hokkaido Prefecture, at the request of the prefectural government and return to Okadama.
A pilot, copilot and two mechanics were aboard the plane, which belonged to an aviation unit for northern areas.
The Self-Defense Forces and local police launched a search in the area, including in mountains straddling Assabu and the adjacent city of Hokuto.
Weather authorities had issued advisories for thunder, heavy fog and strong winds in Assabu, Hakodate and Hokuto around the time the plane disappeared from radar.
According to the GSDF, eight LR-2s, including the one feared to have crashed, have operated nationwide mainly for missions to check disaster situations and transportation of emergency patients.
