Eight crew members were on board the tilt-rotor aircraft when it crashed during a routine training mission last Wednesday off Yakushima island, about 1,040 km southwest of the capital Tokyo.
A piece of wreckage from a US V-22 Osprey military aircraft was found off the coast of Yakushima Island, Japan. Photo: Kyodo
One body was found before it was discovered this week. Two crew members are still missing.
“A concerted effort is underway to search for the remaining crew members... to locate and recover the entire crew,” Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said.
The Osprey is a multi-role military aircraft with tilt-rotor design and vertical take-off and landing capability. Photo: AP
Following the crash, the US military unit that owns the V-22 Osprey aircraft temporarily grounded its flights. However, the US military said other aircraft would resume flying after undergoing safety checks.
Tokyo has expressed concerns about continuing Osprey flights. The deployment of the aircraft in Japan has been controversial, with critics arguing that its presence on the country's southwestern islands is prone to accidents.
Japan is home to a large concentration of US military forces overseas, with the US's only forward-deployed aircraft carrier group, an Asian air transport hub, fighter squadrons and even a US Marine Corps expeditionary force.
Hoang Anh (according to Reuters, Kyodo, AP)
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