Defense Minister Gen Nakatani said Friday that body parts possibly of a missing crew member of a Self-Defense Force trainer jet that crashed into Lake Iruka in central Japan have been found.
The discovered body parts were heavily damaged, he told a news conference.
Since the Air SDF's T-4 aircraft crashed into the agricultural reservoir in Inuyama, Aichi Prefecture, the SDF has been conducting an around-the-clock mission involving over 600 members to search for missing Capt. Takuji Ioka, 31, and 1st Lt. Shota Amitani, 29, of the 5th Air Wing in the southwestern prefecture of Miyazaki.
On Wednesday, the T-4 aircraft took off from the ASDF's Komaki base in the Aichi city of Komaki at 3:06 p.m. for the Nyutabaru base in Miyazaki.
The aircraft, however, disappeared from the radar around 3:08 p.m. while flying near Inuyama about 13 kilometers northeast of the Komaki base.
Objects that appear to be parts of the T-4 aircraft's engines and wheel tires, as well as pilot seats and oxygen cylinders, have been found in search efforts so far.
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