A US military plane, a CV-22 Osprey, crashed in the Pacific Ocean near the coast of the Japanese island of Yakushima on Thursday (29), according to the Japanese Coast Guard. Six people were on board the plane.
As of the last update of this report, the Japanese Coast Guard had found the wreckage of the plane and a person in the ocean.
Initially, Japanese authorities reported that there were eight people inside the plane, but the number was later corrected.
The Osprey crashed at approximately 2:40 pm local time (2:40 am Brasilia time). According to NHK public television, patrol boats and aircraft are being sent to the area where the plane crashed.
A Japanese Coast Guard spokesman said that the plane left the US Marine Corps Air Base in Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Prefecture, and crashed on its way to Kadena Air Base in Okinawa.
He added that the plane attempted to make an emergency landing at Yakushima Airport before it crashed.
MBC said that witnesses saw the plane’s left engine on fire before it fell into the ocean.
The Osprey is a hybrid aircraft that takes off and lands like a helicopter, but in flight it can rotate its propellers forward and cruise faster like an airplane.
The United States military forces have already recorded a series of accidents with this type of aircraft.