Divers on Sunday recovered the remains of the seventh of the eight crew members of a U.S. Osprey military plane that crashed off southern Japan during a training mission.
The Air Force CV-22 Osprey went down Nov. 29 near Yakushima Island in southwestern Japan while en route to Okinawa.
The bodies of six crew members have since been recovered, including five from the sunken wreckage of the plane.
The US Air Force Special Operations Command said in a statement that the body found by Air Force divers was one of two crew members still missing.
The airman’s identity had been determined, but the information was withheld until next of kin could be notified, the command said.
“There is currently a combined effort to locate and recover the remains of our eighth airman,” he said.
A week after the crash and repeated reminders from the Japanese government about safety concerns, the U.S. military grounded all of its Osprey V-22 aircraft after a preliminary investigation indicated that something went wrong with the craft and that it was not a human error.
A Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force minesweeper searches the waters where a U.S. Osprey military plane crashed, off Yakushima, Kagoshima prefecture, southern Japan, Dec. 1, 2023. AP
The American-made Osprey is a hybrid aircraft that takes off and lands like a helicopter, but can rotate its propellers forward and fly much faster, like an airplane, during flight.
The accident raised new questions about the safety of the Osprey, which has been involved in multiple fatal accidents during its relatively short time in service.
Japan grounded its fleet of 14 Ospreys after the crash.
Japanese defense officials say the Ospreys are key to the country’s military buildup, especially in southwestern Japan, in the face of a growing threat from China.
But the accident has reignited public concerns and protests in areas where additional Osprey deployment is planned.
Japanese residents and media have criticized Japan’s government for not pushing hard enough to ground the Ospreys sooner or to gain access to information about the crash.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn