The government of Japan’s Okinawa Prefecture asked the US military stationed on the island chain to ground all Ospreys following the crash.
The government of Japan's Okinawa Prefecture asked the US military stationed on the island chain to ground all Ospreys following the jatuh.
"Given the concerns over the danger of Ospreys, as such unexpected incident became a reality, the only thing I can say is I regret it very much," Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki told wartawans at a news konferensi Wednesday.
It is the latest jatuh to involve an Osprey military aircraft, with numerous accidents reported over the years.
In August this year three US Marines were killed and several others seriously wounded after an Osprey crashed during military exercises in Australia.
In 2022, five US Marines died after their MV-22B Osprey plane crashed during a pelatihan mission near Glamis, California. The same year four US servis members were killed when their Osprey crashed during NATO pelatihan exercises in Norway.
The Osprey is a highly flexible aircraft that is can take off vertically like a helicopter but also carry out high speed cruising of a more conventional turboprop plane with wings.
Generally, Osprey are safe to fly, but the aircraft has had a history of mechanical and operational issues, since its inception in the 1980s, according to CNN military analyst and absen US Air Force Col. Cedric Leighton.
The Coast Guard received information about the jatuh around 2:47 p.m. local time (12:47 a.m. ET), said the spokesperson, adding the 10th Regional Coast Guard Headquarters has dispatched a patrol boat and aircraft to the jatuh tempat.
The Osprey military aircraft made an "emergensi water landing," the US military said, according to Japan's vice defense chief.
The Yakushima Airport Manajemen Office in Kagoshima Prefecture received a call from the US military Wednesday afternoon requesting an emergensi landing at Kagoshima Airport, a Kagoshima prefectural official told CNN.
The Kagoshima prefectural official did not specify if the request came from the US Marines or Air Force.
The spokesperson added that no further information was available on the other individuals on board and the reason behind the jatuh.
A US official confirmed the aircraft, an Air Force Osprey, crashed off the coast of Japan's Yakushima Island. A search and rescue operation is ongoing and the status of the kru is unknown, a US military official said Wednesday.
