Eyewitnesses told authorities that the Osprey’s port engine was on fire as it descended. The first recovery teams at the site reported seeing parts of an aircraft in the water.
US forces have not identified the unit to which the aircraft belonged, but it is understood to have been flying from the US Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, in central Japan, to the US Kadena Air Base in Okinawa Prefecture, where the bulk of US forces in the country are stationed.
Not the first incident
The aircraft, which has large rotors that enable it to take off like a helicopter and then pivot forward to enable it to fly like a conventional airplane, has a chequered safety record and there have been several incidents involving Ospreys in Japan since it went into service in 2007.
An Osprey crashed during multinational exercises in northern Australia in August. Of the 23 crew and troops aboard, three were killed and five sustained serious injuries.
There have been at least five Osprey crashes that have resulted in fatalities since 2012.
In July, Japan’s self-defence forces grounded its entire fleet of 14 Ospreys after a report into an accident involving a US Marine aircraft near San Diego in June 2022 identified a mechanical fault. The Japanese aircraft have since been cleared to resume operations.
Aircraft and ships have been dispatched to the last confirmed location of the Osprey and officials from the US military have said they are still gathering information about the incident.
