Crash in Japan sparks rescue missionBy Tsai Yun-jung and Fion Khan / Staff reporter, with staff writer and CNASearch teams were able to track a sightseeing helicopter that went missing in southwestern Japan yesterday with two Taiwanese passengers on board, but rescue operations were delayed until the weather improved, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Fukuoka said. Two Taiwanese passengers and a pilot were believed to be aboard a sightseeing helicopter that went missing at about noon near the summit of Mount Aso in Kumamoto Prefecture, Kyodo news agency reported. The helicopter departed at 10:52am from the Aso Cuddly Dominion zoo and contact was lost at about 11am, Kyodo cited the operator as saying. A crater of Mount Aso in Japan’s Kumamoto Prefecture is pictured in `an undated photograph. The Japan Air Self-Defense Forces, based at Ashiya Air Base in Fukuoka Prefecture, also dispatched a helicopter and a fixed-wing aircraft to assist with aerial searches.

Source: Taipei Times January 20, 2026 16:39 UTC