U.S. forces said Monday that remains and wreckage were discovered underwater during a joint search operation with Japan for the missing crew of a U.S. military Osprey aircraft that crashed last week in waters off southwestern Japan.
A source familiar with the matter also said the five bodies and what appears to be the main part of the aircraft were spotted near Yakushima island in Kagoshima Prefecture. A U.S. Air Force CV-22 crashed Wednesday near the island, leaving one crew member confirmed dead and seven others missing.
“Currently there is a combined effort in recovering the remains,” said the U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command in a press release, adding, “The identities have yet to be determined at this time.”
Some pieces of the wreckage of the tilt-rotor aircraft, which went down during a training exercise near the island, were collected by a local coast guard and fishermen, and have been handed over to the U.S. military.
The latest incident marked the first-ever fatal accident in Japan involving an Osprey, rekindling concerns over the safety of the airplane. The cause of the accident has yet to be determined, though it is highly likely that a fire broke out in an engine of the aircraft while it was flying in helicopter mode with the rotor facing up.