Yesterday, April 6, the EC-135T2+ ambulance helicopter, registration JA555H, operated by Sgc Saga Aviation, crashed into the sea in Japan. It took off from the coast of Tsushima, in Nagasaki prefecture, and was headed to Fukuoka hospital. The EC-135 is a medium-light twin-engine, single-rotor, four-blade model built by the Airbus Helicopters Group (formerly Eurocopter) derived from the MBB Bo-105.

The Hems (Helicopter Emergency Medical Services) was taking the patient Mitsuki Motoishi, 86 years old, to the hospital. She died in the accident with her relative Kazuyoshi Motoishi, 68, and the doctor Kei Arakawa, 34. The Coast Guard managed to recover three people from the sea, suffering from hypothermia but conscious: the pilot Hiroshi Hamada, 66, the on-board mechanic Katsuto Yoshitake and the 28-year-old nurse Sakura Kunitake. The aircraft was floating upside down on the surface of the sea, the rescuers testified, and the three survivors were found clinging to the inflated floats. This would lead to assume it was an emergency landing. The causes of the accident are not yet known, but are being examined by the investigating authorities appointed by the Japanese Ministry of Territory, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.