Sightseeing Helicopter Goes Missing in Kumamoto Pref.

Kumamoto, Jan. 20 (Jiji Press)--A sightseeing helicopter with three people on board for flight over Mount Aso in Kumamoto Prefecture, southwestern Japan, went missing Tuesday.

Around 11:50 a.m., police received a report from an agency for Takumi Enterprise, the operator of the helicopter, that the chopper had not returned.

A severely damaged aircraft-like object was found inside the crater of the volcano in the city of Aso shortly after 4 p.m., fire authorities said.

According to the Kumamoto prefectural police department and Takumi Enterprise, based in the western Japan city of Okayama, the three on board the helicopter were the pilot in his 60s and two people believed to be from Taiwan--a man in his 40s and a woman in her 30s. The pilot is a veteran with decades of flight experience and an instructor background.

The helicopter took off from Aso Cuddly Dominion, a sightseeing facility in the city of Aso, shortly before 11 a.m. and was scheduled to return to the facility after a flight of about 10 minutes over the crater of Mount Aso. This was the helicopter's third flight of the day.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]