What happened
A maritime patrol mission operating out of Iwakuni ended in a fatal accident during a night flight over the South China Sea. The aircraft was conducting a routine patrol when it went down in the ocean, approximately 120 km east of the Vietnamese coastline. Following the crash, search and rescue efforts managed to locate and recover eight members of the crew. However, the incident resulted in five fatalities.
Findings
The specific reasons for the aircraft's descent into the sea remain undetermined, as the crash occurred under unknown circumstances during the cruise phase of the flight.