On the evening of the 22nd, it was found that a window had fallen from a helicopter of the Mainichi Shimbun flying over Fukuoka Prefecture.
No damage was confirmed, but the captain did not immediately report the fall of the window to the company and continued to fly, participating in an event held in Nagasaki Prefecture.
According to the Mainichi Shimbun Western Headquarters, the window fell on the aircraft that was deployed from the Tokyo Headquarters for equipment management and is operating based at Kitakyushu Airport.
This aircraft took off from Kitakyushu Airport at 4 pm to hold an event to drop the ball from the sky onto the mound at the opening ceremony of the baseball tournament held in Shimabara City, Nagasaki Prefecture on the 22nd.
About 30 minutes later, the window on the right side of the cockpit fell about 600 meters above Miyama City, Fukuoka Prefecture.
The windows are made of trapezoidal acrylic and are 24 cm long, up to 47 cm wide and weigh 380 grams.
It means that there is no damage information.
All of them were employees, and there were four people in total, including the captain and sales staff. The captain noticed that the window had fallen, but he did not immediately report to the company and participated in the opening ceremony.
The report to the company, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, and the police was made before 6 pm after returning to Kitakyushu Airport.
The captain said, "I visually confirmed that there was no damage when the window fell, judged that there was no problem in terms of safety, and continued the flight."
The Western Headquarters of the Mainichi Shimbun commented, "We apologize for the inconvenience. We will thoroughly inspect the helicopter and strive for safe operation in the future."