A helicopter crash-landed in the mountains of Aso, Kumamoto Prefecture, causing serious injuries to three people on board, including two foreign passengers and the pilot. The incident was officially classified as an aviation accident by the Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry, prompting the Japan Transport Safety Board to dispatch investigators to look into the circumstances surrounding the crash.

The helicopter involved in the accident belonged to Okayama-based Takumi Enterprise and typically used Aso City’s Aso Cuddly Dominion theme park as a landing platform. Reports from the Aso Police Station indicated that the helicopter was on a 10-minute sightseeing flight around the crater of Mt. Aso when the pilot noticed a decrease in engine revolutions, leading to the emergency landing in the mountainous terrain. Despite the passengers and pilot being conscious after the crash, they sustained injuries such as broken hips and other wounds during the incident.

Takumi Enterprise President Takumi Morioka mentioned that a morning inspection prior to the flight did not reveal any issues with the helicopter. He stated that the company would conduct a thorough investigation to determine the cause of the crash as soon as possible in order to shed light on the circumstances that led to the unfortunate incident in Aso, Kumamoto Prefecture.