A Japanese soldier was killed in an American plane crash

A military plane crashed during a training exercise in the United States on Friday. The accident occurred near an airport in Alabama.

Two people on board, including a member of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force, died. I gave that Japanese Ministry of Defense Known on Saturday.

The first member of the Air Self-Defense Forces to die in a crash in the United States

According to the ministry, the dead man was a lieutenant in his twenties. He was on a USAF T-38 that was about to land at Montgomery Airport. He was the first member of the Air Self-Defense Forces to be killed in a crash in the United States.

The Air Force trainer on board also died.

The plane, belonging to Columbus Air Force Base in Mississippi, crashed at around 5 pm in an area about two miles from the airport.

The ministry said it was not yet known who flew the plane, and the cause of the crash has not been determined.

The soldier was in training

The ministry said the ASDF member is part of a flight training unit stationed at Hamamatsu Air Force Base in Shizuoka Prefecture, central Japan, and has been in the United States for nearly two years to obtain a pilot’s license.

The ministry withheld the lieutenant’s name because it had not yet obtained the family’s approval.

It takes several years to become a combat pilot at the ASDF, with graduates of the Air Candidate Candidate School and other places first undergoing basic flight training. Then they complete more than 50 weeks of pilot training in Japan or the United States.

The officer killed in the accident was in such a training operation.

USA as a training site

Even after obtaining their pilot’s license, they end up staying in the United States for about two and a half years to continue their education and learn English. After completing their training back home, they began their official service as fighter pilots.

According to news reports, the T-38 training aircraft has been assigned to the 14th flight training wing at the base. The squadron specializes in training young pilots.