A United States CV-22 Osprey military aircraft crash off the coast of Japan’s Yakushima Island resulted in the death of at least one person on Wednesday. The condition of five other individuals who were on the Osprey aircraft has not yet been announced.
According to CNN, the Japanese Coast Guard confirmed that six individuals were on the Osprey aircraft when it experienced an “emergency water landing” at roughly 2:47 p.m. local time. After the crash, the 10th Regional Coast Guard Headquarters noted that it had dispatched aircraft and a patrol boat to the crash site.
A Japanese Coast Guard spokesperson told NBC News that the aircraft landed in the ocean near Yakushima, which is located approximately 45 miles south of Japan’s main island of Kyushu.
According to The Daily Wire, the Japanese Coast Guard noted that one man recovered from the Osprey crash was “unconscious and was not breathing.” Although the man was given CPR and transported roughly two miles to Anbo Port, the crew member was eventually declared dead. The condition of the other five Osprey crew members has not yet been revealed.
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Japan’s Vice Defense Minister Hiroyuki Miyazawa told Japanese reporters that Wednesday’s incident involved a CV-22 Osprey stationed at the U.S. Air Force Yokota Air Base, according to NBC News.
“In light of this incident, the minister of defense has asked the relevant departments to cooperate with the Japan Coast Guard to confirm whether or not there are any victims and to do their utmost to rescue them,” Miyazawa stated.
When Miyazawa was asked why he did not describe the incident as a crash, the vice defense minister said, “The U.S. side explained to us that the pilot did his best until the very end, so we’re using the term ’emergency water landing.'”
According to The Daily Wire, the U.S. CV-22 Osprey is capable of vertical takeoffs, similar to helicopters. The aircraft’s rotors are capable of rotating 90 degrees in the air, allowing it to be flown similarly to a rotor-powered plane after takeoff.
Wednesday’s crash is the third incident with U.S. military members flying Osprey aircraft over the past two years. In August, three U.S. Marines were killed, with several others wounded, in an MV-22B Osprey crash in Australia.
