Training aircraft from Japan's Self-Defense Force crashes in central Japan

PHOTO CAPTION: Illustrative photo by Jerry Gunner via Wikimedia Commons

TOKYO (Reuters) -A Self-Defence Force training aircraft crashed after taking off from a military base in central Japan, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said on Wednesday, declining to elaborate further. 

A defence ministry spokesperson said it is collecting information. 

Japanese public broadcaster NHK, citing multiple defence ministry officials, reported that the T-4 training aircraft disappeared from radar while flying near Inuyama city in Aichi prefecture.  

A representative from the Inuyama city fire department told Reuters that the aircraft likely carried two people on board. 

The local fire department received a call reporting that something resembling an aircraft had crashed into a pond in Inuyama shortly after 3 p.m. (0600 GMT), according to NHK.

 (Reporting by Satoshi Sugiyama and Kaori Kaneko; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)