Japan Coast Guard Raids Operator of Helicopter in Fatal Crash

   Fukuoka, April 9 (Jiji Press)--The Japan Coast Guard on Wednesday raided SGC Saga Aviation Co., the operator of an ambulance helicopter that crashed off Iki Island in Nagasaki Prefecture, southwestern Japan, on Sunday, killing three people.
   The raid on the aircraft operator based in Saga Prefecture, also in southwestern Japan, was conducted by the Karatsu Coast Guard Office in the same prefecture on suspicion of professional negligence resulting in death and injury, to seize the helicopter's inspection records and investigate the cause of the accident.
   A marine salvage company commissioned by SGC Saga Aviation began work Wednesday morning to lift the crashed aircraft out of the sea. The JCG is set to investigate the helicopter body as well.
   According to the JCG and others, the helicopter departed Tsushima Airport in Nagasaki at 1:30 p.m. Sunday and was scheduled to arrive at a hospital in the southwestern prefecture of Fukuoka at 2:15 p.m. that day. However, the helicopter operator lost track of the aircraft's location about 10 minutes after departure.
   The helicopter was later found off the coast of Iki Island, and three of the six people onboard died, including an 86-year-old female patient and a 34-year-old male doctor.

(2025/04/09-14:44)