U.S. and Japanese search teams located the wreckage of a U.S. Air Force Osprey tiltrotor aircraft that crashed Nov. 29 into the water off the coast of Yakushima, American officials said Monday.
After several days of searching, dive teams found the main fuselage of the CV-22 along with the remains of five of the eight crew members who were aboard when it crashed. Japanese first responders recovered the first known casualty hours after the crash, Air Force Special Operations Command said Monday.
“Currently, two crew members of the five located today have been successfully recovered by the attending teams,” officials said. “There is an ongoing combined effort to recover the remaining crew members from the wreckage.”
The Air Force said the Osprey was conducting a “routine training mission” when it went down as a result of a mishap. The cause of the fatal crash remains under investigation.
The Osprey has had a checkered mechanical history and been involved in several fatal incidents over the past 30 years. Most recently, three U.S. Marines were killed in August when their Osprey crashed during a training exercise in Australia.
Air Force officials said the identities of the Osprey crew recovered on Monday have yet to be determined and will be released at a later date.
• Mike Glenn can be reached at mglenn@washingtontimes.com.
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