TOKYO – Japan’s coast guard has discovered an individual and particles within the ocean the place a U.S. navy Osprey plane carrying eight folks crashed Wednesday off southern Japan, officers stated.
The explanation for the crash and the standing of the particular person and the others on the plane weren’t instantly identified, coast guard spokesperson Kazuo Ogawa stated.
The coast guard obtained an emergency name from a fishing boat close to the crash web site off Yakushima, an island south of Kagoshima on the southern major island of Kyushu, he stated.
Coast guard plane and patrol boats discovered one particular person, whose situation was not instantly identified, and gray-colored particles believed to be from the plane, Ogawa stated. They had been discovered at sea about 1 kilometer (0.6 mile) off the jap coast of Yakushima.
“The authorities will affirm details about the injury and place the very best precedence on saving lives,’ Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno advised reporters.
The Osprey is a hybrid plane that takes off and lands like a helicopter, however throughout flight can rotate its propellers ahead and cruise a lot quicker like an airplane. Versions of the plane are flown by the U.S. Marine Corps, Navy and Air Force.
Ogawa stated the plane had departed from the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni in Yamaguchi prefecture and crashed on its approach to Kadena Air Base on Okinawa. The Osprey apparently tried to make an emergency touchdown on the Yakushima airport earlier than crashing, he stated.
Kyodo News company, quoting Kagoshima prefectural officers, stated witnesses reported seeing fireplace coming from the Osprey’s left engine.
U.S. and Japanese officers stated the plane belonged to Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo. U.S. Air Force officers at Yokota stated they had been nonetheless confirming data and had no instant remark.
A U.S. Marine Corps Osprey plane with 23 Marines aboard crashed on a north Australian island in August, killing at the least three and critically injuring at the least 5 throughout a multinational coaching train.
There have been at the least 5 deadly crashes of Marine Ospreys since 2012, inflicting a complete of at the least 19 deaths.