Japan ASDF Fighter Crashes off Ibaraki Pref.

   Tokyo, Aug. 7 (Jiji Press)--A Japanese Air Self-Defense Force F-2 fighter crashed into the ocean off Ibaraki Prefecture, eastern Japan, during a training exercise on Thursday.
   The sole pilot on board ejected from the aircraft and was taken to a hospital after being rescued by an ASDF helicopter. The pilot is not injured.
   "We sincerely apologize for causing concern to the public," Takehiro Morita, chief of staff of the ASDF, told an extraordinary press conference on Thursday.
   The accident occurred shortly after 12:30 p.m. The F-2, part of the 7th Air Wing based at the ASDF Hyakuri base in the city of Omitama, Ibaraki, took off from the base at 11:44 a.m. and was training in an airspace some 150 kilometers northeast of the base together with three other F-2 aircraft and two ASDF rescue aircraft at the time of the accident. The pilot made an emergency escape after reporting an abnormality to air traffic control.
   No damage to nearby ships or facilities has been reported.

(2025/08/07-20:11)