Japan's defence ministry said Thursday it had found the wreckage of an Air Self-Defense Force (ASDF) jet that disappeared from radar a day earlier. All six occupants may be dead.
Preliminary reports from a ministry official said its six occupants were found in a "state of cardiac arrest" and were showing no vital signs of life at the site of the wreckage on a mountain, reports Xinhua.
A witness reported seeing smoke rising from the mountainous Takakuma area near the Kanoya airbase in Kagoshima prefecture but searches were initially hampered by heavy fog and inclement weather.
The twin-engined U-125 jet is 15-meters in length and typically used to check the condition of aircraft navigation facilities. Authorities lost contact with the small jet on Wednesday, 11 km north of Kanoya airbase.