TOKYO: Japan's Defense Ministry on Sunday said it was searching for three crew members of a Maritime Self-Defense Force (MSDF) helicopter in the Sea of Japan after contact was lost with the chopper. One crew member had been rescued uninjured.

The ministry said the SH-60J anti-submarine warfare helicopter lost contact around 90 km (56 miles) off the coast of Aomori Prefecture late on Saturday.

It said the flight data recorder had been located, but did not say what had actually happened to the helicopter, whether it crashed or ditched into the sea. The MSDF has launched an investigation into the incident.

Earlier this month, four Japanese crew members were injured after their CH-101 chopper crashed on land during a training exercise at Iwakuni Air Base in Yamaguchi Prefecture in western Japan.