TOKYO (AFP) - Three pilots escaped unharmed on Wednesday after their jet planes collided in midair off the Japanese coast, a military spokesman said.

Two T-4 trainers belonging to the Blue Impulse aerobatic display team of the Japanese airforce made contact as they practised flying in formation, with one plane damaging part of its nose and the other losing a bit of a stabiliser.

The jets landed safely at Matsushima Air Base in northern Japan after the incident over the Pacific Ocean some 45km south-east of the base, the spokesman said.

It was the first mid-air collision involving the T-4, the said, adding the airforce was looking into its cause.