A sightseeing helicopter carrying two Taiwanese tourists crashed near Mount Aso in Japan’s Kumamoto Prefecture on Tuesday, authorities said.
According to Taiwan’s Central News Agency (CNA), Kumamoto Prefectural Police on Tuesday afternoon located a severely damaged aircraft inside the volcano’s crater and confirmed it was the missing helicopter after checking its serial number. However, currently volcanic gases and poor weather conditions have reduced visibility around the crater, hampering ongoing search and rescue operations.
The helicopter was carrying three people,a 64-year-old pilot, a Taiwanese man in his 40s, and a woman in her 30s. According to police, it went missing near Mount Aso, one of Japan’s most active volcanoes. The aircraft had taken off from a zoo in Aso City at 10:52 a.m. local time (01:52 GMT) for a planned 10-minute sightseeing tour but failed to return.
While expressing his condolences, Kumamoto Governor Kimura Takashi assured that authorities were doing everything possible to respond to the incident. In a video message recorded on Wednesday, he said, “We are deeply saddened by the incident in which travelers from Taiwan were involved in the Aso helicopter accident. Just last week, I visited Taiwan and was once again reminded that Taiwan is an indispensable and important partner to Kumamoto.” He added that the prefecture would “continue working closely with relevant agencies and do everything in its power to carry out search and rescue operations and provide assistance,” CNA reported.
According to the BBC, the missing helicopter was a US-made Robinson R44 and was on its third sightseeing flight of the day. Its operator, Takumi Enterprise, said there had been no problems with the two earlier flights.
Mount Aso last erupted in October 2021, sending a large plume of smoke into the air. Flights by drones and other unmanned aircraft are generally prohibited within a one-kilometre radius of the Mount Nakadake craters due to recovery difficulties in case of accidents. However, manned flights are not covered by this restriction, and sightseeing helicopters routinely operate in the area. According to Japan’s Ministry of the Environment, about 1.18 million inbound tourists visited Aso-Kuju National Park, which includes Mount Aso, in 2024. The park ranks as the country’s second most visited national park, after Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park, which includes Mount Fuji.
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