TOKYO - Human remains recovered from a large reservoir in central Japan have been confirmed as those of two missing crew members of a Japan Air Self-Defense Force (ASDF) training aircraft that crashed last week.
"It is gut-wrenching that we have lost these promising colleagues due to a sudden accident," Gen Hiroaki Uchikura, chief of staff of the ASDF, told a press conference Thursday.
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He added that his force "takes the accident seriously" and "will do our best to identify the cause of the crash."
On May 14, the T-4 jet, with Capt Takuji Ioka, 31, and 1st Lt Shota Amitani, 29, onboard, crashed into the reservoir in Inuyama, Aichi prefecture, shortly after taking off from the Komaki Air Base.
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The ASDF has grounded other T-4 jets for the time being.
