{"id":170465,"date":"2025-04-18T11:23:29","date_gmt":"2025-04-18T02:23:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/?post_type=news&#038;p=170465&#038;lang=en"},"modified":"2025-04-18T11:23:29","modified_gmt":"2025-04-18T02:23:29","slug":"government-inspects-saga-helicopter-operator","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/en\/news\/government-inspects-saga-helicopter-operator\/","title":{"rendered":"Government Inspects Saga Helicopter Operator After Fatal Crash"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Japan\u2019s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism has launched an on-site investigation into Saga-based SGC Saga Aviation following a fatal medical helicopter accident near Nagasaki on April 6. The crash, which occurred during a patient transport flight from Tsushima Airport to Fukuoka, resulted in the deaths of three people, including the patient and a physician. Three others, including the pilot and a mechanic, were injured.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The inspection, which began April 16 and continued on the 17th, is being conducted under the Civil Aeronautics Act to examine the operator\u2019s safety management practices, emergency response training, and aircraft maintenance. The pilot reportedly told company officials that the aircraft lost altitude after an unusual noise from the rear and was unable to control its rudder, prompting a forced water landing. SGC Saga Aviation was also involved in a July 2023 crash in Yanagawa, Fukuoka, which killed two people. That incident also triggered a government investigation. <\/span><b>Source: <\/b><a href=\"https:\/\/www3.nhk.or.jp\/fukuoka-news\/20250417\/5010027866.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">NHK<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-170468\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/fnn_heli-apl18_2025_cl.jpg?resize=1400%2C796&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"1400\" height=\"796\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/fnn_heli-apl18_2025_cl.jpg?w=1400&amp;ssl=1 1400w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/fnn_heli-apl18_2025_cl.jpg?resize=300%2C171&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/fnn_heli-apl18_2025_cl.jpg?resize=1024%2C582&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/fnn_heli-apl18_2025_cl.jpg?resize=768%2C437&amp;ssl=1 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Stay informed with the latest Fukuoka &amp; Kyushu news and events in English. Sign up for our <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/en\/mailmagazine\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">free weekly newsletter <\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">today and never miss a beat. Opt out anytime, your privacy is our priority. Get the inside scoop with <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/en\/mailmagazine\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Now<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Summaries based on public content, errors may occur during translation. Images credited independently. Send feedback using <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/en\/contact\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">this <\/span><b>form<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Japan\u2019s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism has launched an on-site investigation into&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29305,"featured_media":170471,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","tags":[],"class_list":["post-170465","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","location-saga-prefecture","news-category-general","en-US"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/170465","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29305"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=170465"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/170471"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=170465"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=170465"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}