ASDF Training Jet Crashes: What Is Causing So Many Incidents to Occur?

Editorial

15:11 JST, May 16, 2025

Another serious incident involving the Self-Defense Forces has occurred. In addition to making every possible effort to rescue the crew members aboard the training plane that crashed, it is necessary to hasten the investigation into the cause of the incident.

A T-4 training jet belonging to the Air Self-Defense Force disappeared from radar shortly after taking off from the ASDF’s Komaki Air Base in Komaki, Aichi Prefecture, and crashed into an agricultural reservoir in Inuyama, about 10 kilometers away in the same prefecture.

Aircraft parts and other items were found near the reservoir, but the two senior SDF officers who had been on board — a captain and a first lieutenant — are missing, and the SDF, police and firefighters are searching for them.

There are buildings, including a tourist facility, houses and a school, near the reservoir. If things had gone just a bit worse, it could have ended in a major disaster.

At the time of the incident, the weather was fine and visibility was good. Therefore, the possibility of sudden trouble with the engine or the flight control system has been suggested.

Some witnesses reported that the jet in question suddenly veered toward the reservoir. This has led to a view that the pilot, who sensed something wrong with the aircraft, took evasive action to minimize the damage.

The T-4 is a two-seat, domestically manufactured aircraft intended mainly for training pilots. It is highly mobile and also used by the Blue Impulse, the ASDF’s team of pilots who perform aerobatic displays.

The T-4 jet was not being used for training at the time but was returning to Nyutabaru Air Base in Miyazaki Prefecture, where the two SDF officers are based, on a mission flight. The ASDF intends to suspend the flights of its about 200 T-4 jets for the time being. It must conduct a comprehensive inspection of its aircraft and implement all possible safety control measures.

The ASDF has established an accident investigation committee. In addition to hastening the recovery of the aircraft, it is essential to investigate the content of communications between the crew and air traffic controllers to determine what happened.

The ASDF is in the process of gradually installing flight data recorders on its training planes and fighter jets to record the movement of their aircraft. However, as the aircraft involved in the incident was an old model manufactured 36 years ago, such equipment was not installed on it. There is concern that the cause of the incident may be difficult to ascertain.

There has been a spate of crashes involving SDF aircraft in recent years.

In 2022, an ASDF fighter jet crashed into the sea off the coast of Ishikawa Prefecture during training, killing two people. In 2023, a Ground Self-Defense Force helicopter crashed off Miyakojima Island in Okinawa Prefecture, killing 10 people. In 2024, two Maritime Self-Defense Force patrol helicopters collided over the Pacific Ocean, killing eight people.

If serious incidents continue to occur almost every year, the public’s trust in the SDF could be lost.

With the SDF facing a manpower shortage, aren’t there problems with its ability to conduct aircraft maintenance or with the level of piloting technique? It is important for the SDF to conduct a thorough investigation, including into the background circumstances.

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, May 16, 2025)