An Osprey aircraft belonging to the U.S. military crashed into the coast of Japan with 8 people on board, according to an official. At least 1 person has been reported dead.
A United States military Osprey plane crashed into the sea on Wednesday near the small southern Japanese island of Yakushima. It was carrying eight individuals, and according to a U.S. defense official, at least one crew member was killed. A representative from Japan’s coast guard informed CBS News that one crew member’s body had been found and efforts to locate the remaining individuals from the Osprey were ongoing throughout the evening.
According to a CBS News source, the search operation involved two helicopters and six boats. A statement from the U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command stated that the Osprey was on a routine training mission.
According to the Agence France-Presse news agency, Kazuo Ogawa, a spokesperson for the coast guard, stated that they received an emergency call from a fishing boat reporting a crash. Initially, it was reported that there were eight individuals on the Osprey, but the coast guard later corrected this to six. A U.S. defense official then confirmed that there were actually eight airmen on board.
NHK, the national broadcasting company of Japan, shared footage taken from a helicopter which displayed a coast guard ship at the location. One vibrant orange inflatable life raft was visible on the surface of the water, but there were no individuals inside.
Russia
Last year, a new budget of $8.6 billion was approved for five years to provide support for hosting American troops in the country. This highlights the increasing importance of collaboration between the two countries’ military forces and a focus on working together to respond to and prevent threats from China and Russia.North Korea and Russia.
The Osprey aircraft that crashed was designated to Yokota Air Force Base near Tokyo, according to Air Force Special Operations Command. NHK stated that the plane took off from a smaller U.S. air base in Iwakuni on Wednesday and was headed to Kadena Air Base on Okinawa, which is located in the same island group as the small island of Yakushima. This island is situated just south of Kagushima prefecture, on the major southern island of Kyushu in Japan.
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Kadena Air Base, operated by the U.S. military, is the largest and most significant American base in the area.
2017
In recent years, there have been several fatal crashes involving U.S. Osprey aircraft. The most recent incident occurred during a training exercise on an Australian island in August of 2017.killing three U.S. Marines
Eight people were hospitalized after an Osprey crash, and all five U.S. Marines on another Osprey were unharmed.
Passed away last summer
When the plane crashed in the desert of California.
In 2016, an Osprey aircraft experienced a crash in shallow water near Okinawa, Japan. Fortunately, all U.S. Marines aboard the aircraft survived the incident.
This report was contributed to by Elizabeth Palmer and Lucy Craft, reporting from Tokyo, and Eleanor Watson at the Pentagon for CBS News.
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Source: cbsnews.com