- Osprey emergency landing Japan
- Unresponsive passenger discovered
- Left engine engulfed in flames
A U.S. military aircraft carrying eight crew members has made an emergency landing in the vicinity of Yakushima Island in Japan.
The Japanese Coast Guard reported that a passenger who was “not breathing” had been discovered by rescue personnel.
Local media cited officials as saying that the aircraft’s wreckage was probably off the coast of Yakushima.
Osprey’s Emergency Landing
According to the Japanese broadcaster NHK, the CV-22 Osprey’s left engine was engulfed in flames as it attempted to land at Yakushima Airport.
It was believed that the aircraft was en route to the Kadena base in Okinawa from the Iwakuni base in the Yamaguchi region.
Response and Observation
Hirokazu Matsuno, Japan’s senior cabinet secretary, told Reuters that the plane disappeared from radar at 14:40 local time.
Seven minutes later, the Coast Guard received a distress call informing them of the plane’s collision.
Then, authorities dispatched two helicopters and six vessels to the location. Two helicopters arrived at 16:00 and observed what appeared to be an aircraft component and a life raft.
Yakushima, in Kagoshima prefecture, lies to the south of the island of Kyushu in Japan.
The Osprey is a multipurpose aircraft capable of operating as a helicopter and a turboprop.
The United States has over fifty thousand forces stationed throughout Japan.
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Before the flight, some residents of Okinawa, the destination island, had expressed apprehensions regarding the safety of Osprey aircraft.
Throughout the years, fatal accidents have implicated the aircraft in a series of incidents.
In August, an Osprey involved in a military exercise for locally based forces crashed in northern Australia, consequently resulting in the deaths of three out of twenty-three American marines on board.
In 2017, an Osprey crash off the northern coast of Australia killed three marines as it clipped the back of a transport ship while attempting to land at sea.
