A US military CV-22 Osprey aircraft carrying eight people on board has crashed into the ocean in western Japan.
Japan’s Ministry of Defense says the transport plane went down near Yakushima island in the Kagoshima prefecture on Wednesday.
A US military Osprey aircraft with eight people on board has crashed into the ocean in western Japan
The Japanese coast guard immediately headed to the site for search and rescue operations and believes it has found what appears to be remains of the aircraft.
Spokesperson Kazuo Ogawa added that there are no further details of the incident, including the status of those onboard.
At around 2:47PM local time, Kagoshima police received a report from a fishing boat of an Osprey with one of its engines on fire near Yakushima Airport.
The aircraft belonged to Yokota Air Base and was on its way to Kadena in Okinawa from Iwakuni.
It then changed its course towards Yakushima before going down in the sea.
The Osprey, which is a tiltrotor aircraft that can function as a helicopter and a turboprop aircraft, is operated by the US Marines, US Navy and the Japan Self Defence Forces.
Anti-base protesters in Japan often argue that it is a dangerous aircraft which is prone to accidents.
In August, three US Marines were killed after an Osprey crashed off the coast of Australia while transporting troops during a routine military exercise.
Another crash-landed in the ocean off Japan’s southern island of Okinawa in December 2016, prompting a temporary US military grounding of the aircraft.
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