An Air Self-Defense Force helicopter may have crashed off Hamamatsu on Tuesday evening, a government source said.

The UH-60J chopper, carrying four people, disappeared from radar around 6 p.m., the source said. The ASDF was conducting a search.

Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera said the ASDF has confirmed what appeared to be parts of the helicopter floating in the ocean around 30 kilometers south of the ASDF Hamamatsu base.

The chopper was conducting a nighttime search-and-rescue drill at the time, according to Onodera.