A US navy plane has crashed into the ocean off the coast of southern Japan.
The wreckage of a US Osprey, which crashed with eight crew members on board, has been discovered together with a deployed lifeboat, Japan’s coastguard mentioned on Wednesday.
The coastguard mentioned it obtained an emergency name on Wednesday afternoon from a fishing boat close to the crash website, which is off the island of Yakushima, positioned south of the primary island of Kyushu.
“We obtained info at 2:47pm [05:47 GMT] in the present day,” a coastguard spokesperson mentioned. “We have been additionally notified that there have been eight crew members on board.”
The plane disappeared from radar at 2:40pm native time, Japan’s Chief Cupboard Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno confirmed.
In accordance with witnesses, the left engine of the plane seemed to be on fireplace because it went down into the ocean close to Yakushima airport, Japanese broadcaster NHK reported. Close by fishing boats rushed to the scene, finding three of the crew members.
A spokesperson for US forces within the area mentioned they have been nonetheless gathering details about the incident.
The CV-22 Osprey, belonging to the US Yokota airbase in Tokyo, departed from the Iwakuni US base within the Yamaguchi area on Wednesday, headed for the Kadena base in Okinawa, Ministry of Protection sources instructed NHK.
Troubled historical past
The hybrid plane, which takes off and lands like a helicopter however can rotate its propellers and cruise like an aeroplane, has a troubled historical past, with a string of deadly crashes over time.
An Osprey crashed in Australia in August, killing three crew members, and injuring 20. In June final 12 months, 5 Marines on board an Osprey have been killed when it crashed within the California desert.
In March 2022, 4 Marines have been killed when an Osprey crashed close to a Norwegian city within the Arctic Circle throughout a NATO train.
In 2017, three Marines have been killed when an Osprey crashed off Australia’s north coast.
Earlier this 12 months the US Military’s chief of employees grounded all pilots not concerned in important missions and required that they full extra coaching after 4 helicopters crashed in a matter of weeks with a number of deaths.
