Hubschrauber mit zwei Passagieren aus Taiwan wird über Aso, Präfektur Kumamoto, vermisst und ist nicht zur geplanten Zeit zurückgekehrt

Hope they are alright. Will update info on their status as I find them.

Further information. The tourists were a man (aged 41) and a woman (aged 36). It’s getting dark. They may call the search off till tomorrow. They received a phone call before what could been a crash.

[Sightseeing helicopter with three Taiwanese tourists on board goes missing in Aso, Kumamoto](https://kumanichi.com/articles/1948314)

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According to the Aso Regional Fire Department, a sightseeing helicopter went missing after taking off from the tourist facility „Aso Cuddly Dominion“ in Aso City just after 11:00 a.m. on the 20th. It is believed that there were three people on board, including two Taiwanese tourists and the pilot, and the Aso Police Station and the operating company are searching the area around Mount Aso.

>According to an agency that handles local tours within Cuddly Dominion, the helicopter was carrying three Taiwanese tourists, a 41-year-old man and a 36-year-old woman, and a 64-year-old male pilot. The helicopter took off from Cuddly Dominion at 11:00 a.m. on the 20th and was scheduled to land on Mount Aso at 11:10 a.m., but when it failed to land on the mountain, the agency called for a rescue.

>According to Aso Police Station, at around 11:00 a.m., the helicopter’s operator, Takumi Air (Okayama Prefecture), received a distress signal from the helicopter. A few minutes later, the fire department received a notification that a smartphone had received some kind of impact. The phone number of a passenger listed on the helicopter’s passenger list matched the number that reported the impact, so it is believed to have been a notification from a passenger’s smartphone. According to the Aso Mountaintop Office in Nakamatsu, Minamiaso Village, „A security guard near the crater heard a ‚bong‘ sound.“

>Another helicopter operated by the agency, as well as helicopters from the prefectural police and the Self-Defense Forces, are searching the area where the aircraft went missing. Signals from the aircraft have reportedly been confirmed.

>A Takumi Aviation representative said, „We also searched with another helicopter, but have not found it. The prefectural police and fire department helicopters are currently searching. The aircraft cannot be seen from the ground. Our president will decide on our next steps.“

>On May 13, 2024, the company’s sightseeing helicopter made an emergency landing in a vacant lot in the mountains of Kurokawa in Aso City, and three people on board, two Chinese tourists (male and female) and the male pilot, were transported to the hospital with serious injuries including fractures.

I was there sightseeing around 11 a.m. today and remember seeing an ambulance followed by a fire truck. The volcano was emitting gas and the smoke was really thick, so I couldn’t see anything and left disappointed. I guess they got caught in the smoke and poor visibility.