A tourist helicopter has been declared missing in the area of Mount Aso - one of the most active volcanic complexes in Japan, the BBC reports, News.bg reports.
The aircraft took off on January 20 from a zoo in the city of Aso for a planned ten-minute panoramic tour, but did not return at the appointed time. There were three people on board.
During the search operation, a police helicopter spotted an object resembling a helicopter in the Nakadake crater - one of the five peaks of Mount Aso. So far, there has been no official confirmation whether the discovered object is the missing machine.
The pilot is a 64-year-old man with many years of experience - more than four decades in aviation. The passengers are a man and a woman, citizens of Taiwan.
According to the operator Takumi Enterprise, this was the helicopter's third tourist takeoff of the day. The previous two flights had passed without any difficulties. Immediately after the incident, the company decided to temporarily land all its helicopters.
Flights over the volcanic landscapes of Mount Aso are among the most popular tourist attractions in Kumamoto Prefecture, located in southwestern Japan.
The last eruption of the Aso volcano was recorded in October 2021.