
A United States Osprey military aircraft with eight crew members on board crashed on Wednesday off the coast of Japan, the coastguard said.
The tilt-rotor Osprey aircraft has a troubled history, with a string of fatal crashes over the years.
Four months ago, a plane crash in northern Australia killed three US Marines among the 23 on board.
The Osprey, officially known as the Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey, is a unique tilt-rotor aircraft that combines the vertical takeoff and landing capabilities of a helicopter with the speed and range of a fixed-wing aircraft. Introduced in the late 1980s, it was hailed as a revolutionary advancement in military aviation. However, its history has been marred by a series of fatal crashes that have raised concerns about its safety and reliability.
Four months prior to the recent incident off the coast of Japan, a tragic crash in northern Australia claimed the lives of three US Marines among the 23 on board. These incidents have heightened the scrutiny on the Osprey program, prompting questions about its design, maintenance, and overall safety record.
On a fateful Wednesday, an Osprey military aircraft with eight crew members on board crashed off the coast of Japan. The incident immediately triggered a response from the Japanese coastguard, launching a search and rescue operation in the waters where the aircraft went down. The details surrounding the crash, including the cause and circumstances, are still under investigation.
This crash adds another chapter to the Osprey’s troubled history, further fueling debates about the aircraft’s safety and the risks associated with its operation. The impact of such incidents extends beyond the immediate loss of life and equipment; it raises questions about the continued deployment of the Osprey in military operations worldwide.
“We received information at 2:47 pm (0547 GMT) today that the US military’s Osprey crashed off Yakushima Island,” a spokeswoman told a news agency.
“We were also notified that eight crew members were on board,” she added.
“There is no further information at the moment.”
However, no casualty has been reported.
The island of Yakushima lies south of Japan’s southernmost main island, Kyushu.
Japanese broadcaster NHK reported that the Osprey departed from the Iwakuni US base in the Yamaguchi region and headed for the Kadena base in Okinawa.
NHK also cited defence ministry sources as saying that the aircraft was a CV-22 Osprey belonging to Tokyo’s US Yokota air base.
The tilt-rotor Osprey aircraft has a troubled history, with a string of fatal crashes over the years.
Four months ago, a plane crash in northern Australia killed three US Marines among the 23 on board.