일본 해자대 SH-60K 2기가 필리핀해 해상에서 야간 대잠전 훈련 중 충돌, 1명 사망 7명 실종

[위종민]

지난 토요일 밤 필리핀해 해상에서 야간 대잠전 훈련 중 충돌해 승무원 1명이 사망하고 7명이 실종됐습니다. 

사고장소는 도쿄 남쪽 600km에 위치한 토리시마 동쪽 150해리로 토요일 밤 10시 38분 연락이 끊기고 39분 비상위치추적송신기의 신호가 수신됐다고 합니다. 해자대 함정 12척, 고정익기 3대, 헬기 4대, 해보청 함정 2척, 해보청 항공기 1기가 수색을 실시중입니다. 

https://news.usni.org/2024/04/21/two-japanese-naval-helos-collide-over-philippine-sea-1-killed-7-missing

Two Japanese Naval Helos Collide Over Philippine Sea; 1 Killed, 7 Missing

DZIRHAN MAHADZIR

APRIL 21, 2024 6:57 PM

Two Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Forces SH-60K in flight. JMSDF Photo

Two Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force helicopters collided Saturday night in the Philippine Sea during nighttime anti-submarine warfare training, leaving one crew member dead and seven others missing.
Japan’s Defense Minister Minoru Kihara said during a Sunday morning news conference that contact with the first helicopter was lost at 10:38 p.m. Saturday 150 nautical miles east of Torishima, an uninhabited volcanic island about 600 kilometers (373 miles) south of Tokyo. A signal from an emergency locator transmitter was received at 10:39 p.m. Kihara said it was possible that both helicopters’ transmitters sent signals that were recorded as one because they operated on the same frequency and were in the same area. The ministry concluded the helicopters had collided based on the proximity of the recovered flight recorders and other parts.

Kihara said 12 Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force ships, three fixed-wing aircraft, four helicopters, two Japan Coast Guard ships, and a Japan Coast Guard aircraft were involved in the ongoing search for the missing.

Earlier at a 2 a.m. Sunday news conference, Kihara said the helicopters, based at JMSDF Omura Air Base in Nagasaki Prefecture and JMSDF Komatsushima Air Base in Tokushima Prefecture, were part of a training exercise with JMSDF submarines, ships and aircraft. He confirmed no foreign forces were involved.

Adm. Ryo Sakai, chief of the JMSDF, said later Sunday that three helicopters had been flying in an exercise that included searching, detecting, and conducting mock attacks on submarines. Crew members of the third helicopter were being questioned.

The pilots commanding the crashed helicopters were identified as Lt. Cmdr. Takuya Matsuda and Lt. Cmdr. Kazuki Itamura. An investigation board has been formed, and all SH-60K training flights have been suspended, Sakai said.

Sakai also canceled his trip to China for the 19th Western Pacific Naval Symposium, which began Sunday in Qingdao. The biennial meeting includes 29 countries. China, the host, has not disinvited any member states, unlike Japan, which did not invite Russia in 2022 because of the Ukraine invasion.

U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel said the U.S. offered assistance in the search, but Japan has not announced a decision. “We will stand together, side by side, with our friend and ally, Japan,” Emanuel said in a social media post.

The JMSDF has about 80 SH-60Ks in service, with the transition to the SH-60L underway. The SH-60K is a variant of the Sikorsky S-70, built under license by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and equipped with Japanese avionics.

The incident occurred just over a year after a Japan Ground Self-Defense Force UH-60J crash near Miyako Island killed 10, including Lt. Gen. Yuichi Sakamoto. An inquiry cited simultaneous engine failures but could not determine the exact cause.

토리시마 동쪽 150해리 위치

[정명기]

맨 위 사진은 어디인건가요? 활주로가 저렇게 짧은 헬기용인데도 방향 표지가 있는게 신기하네요. ^^;

[위종민]

사진을 찾아보니 토쿠시마현 코마츠시마 항공기지의 제24항공대 새해 첫비행 사진이네요. ( https://www.mod.go.jp/msdf/operation/training/hatsuhikou/r06/ )

구글지도로 찾아보니 코마츠시마 항공기지가 맞는 것 같습니다. ( http://cuts.kr/DsxvX )

[정명기]

끽해야 250미터가 될까말까한 활주로에 방위표시가 되어있다니, 저 길이에 이착륙하는 고정익기가 있는건지 궁금해지네요.
아니면 우리나라 모 기지처럼 원래는 컸는데 점점 축소되면서도 공항의 명분은 유지하고 있는걸지도 모르겠네요. 답변 감사합니다!