The pilot’s body was found close to the site of the crash, near Ishikawa Prefecture, the NHK broadcaster said on Sunday. In the same area of the Sea of Japan, a fragment of the fighter jet’s keel was found.
The search for the second pilot continues.
A Japanese F-15 fighter jet disappeared from radars over the Sea of Japan shortly after taking off from an airbase in the central prefecture of Ishikawa on 31 January.
Crew members of Japan Coast Guard vessels Kagayuki conduct search operations for missing F-15 fighter jet believed to have crashed off Japan's Air Self-Defence Force's Komatsu airbase in Komatsu, Japan, February 1, 2022, in this handout photo taken and released by 8th Regional Coast Guard Headquarters.
© REUTERS / JAPAN COAST GUARD
According to NHK, the aircraft did not send any rescue signals before it went missing during a military exercise.