TOKYO, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- Two crew members aboard a Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force (GSDF) attack helicopter are feared dead as the chopper crashed into a residential area Monday and set a house ablaze in Saga Prefecture, southwestern Japan.
According to Japan's public broadcaster NHK, citing local police, one person, believed to be a crew member, was killed in the crash and another was found without vital signs.
The AH-64 attack helicopter crashed in a residential area in Kanzaki City at around 4:45 p.m. local time (0745 GMT) after the crew members reported an abnormality and tried to land, the defense ministry here said.
The chopper was on a test flight after undergoing maintenance at the GSDF's Metabaru Camp located about 4 km from the crash site, the ministry said.
Local police said that all four residents in a house that was set ablaze in the crash have been confirmed safe and no injuries have been reported from two schools also located close to the scene of the crash.
"We are confirming whether there are any deaths and damage," Japan's Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera was quoted as telling a press briefing on the matter.
He also said the helicopter, a four-blade, twin-turboshaft attack helicopter, is thought to have nose-dived during its flight from east to west.
All of the GSDF's 12 other AH-64 helicopters have been grounded, the defense ministry said, pending emergency inspections.
The Saga Prefectural Police Headquarters reportedly received an emergency call at around 4:45 p.m. local time saying that a military helicopter had crashed near the Chiyoda Chubu Elementary School in Kanzaki City.
Rescue services were deployed to the scene, where plumes of black smoke were billowing from the crash site.
The local city office said the helicopter crash had resulted in a residential building catching fire near the elementary school and the Dairyuji kindergarten in the city.
An eyewitness from the kindergarten was quoted as saying she heard a loud "bang" but confirmed no one at the kindergarten was injured.
The principal at the Chiyoda Chubu Elementary School said that he could see pillars of fire and black smoke in the vicinity, but said none of the students were injured as a result of the crash.
A woman in her 70s told local media she heard a "terrible noise" and went outside her home to see that a two-story house was on fire.
Another eyewitness in her 60s said she heard an unusual sound and looked up to see a helicopter rapidly descending with its nose pitched down.
"After it crashed, I could see black smoke rising. I was very scared," she told local media.
The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said that at the time and location of the crash, there were no adverse weather conditions.
The defense ministry said that aside from its AH-64 "Apache" attack chopper, checkups will be carried out on all SDF helicopters.
