By KAIGO NARISAWA/ Staff Writer
December 6, 2023 at 18:29 JST
A Japanese Self-Defense Forces vessel recovers what is believed to be part of a crashed Osprey aircraft on Dec. 2 off Yakushima island in Kagoshima Prefecture. (Kengo Hiyoshi)
A U.S. Air Force Osprey aircraft that crashed in Kagoshima Prefecture was flying away from an airport where the pilot had planned to make an emergency landing, according to Japanese government officials.
That finding indicates the U.S. crew lost control of the tilt-rotor aircraft before it fell into the sea, presumably killing all eight aboard.
The CV-22 Osprey disappeared from Japanese Self-Defense Forces’ radar at around 2:40 p.m. on Nov. 29, five minutes after its crew made a request for an emergency landing at Yakushima Airport.
It was last detected on the radar southeast of the airport about 1 to 2 kilometers off the eastern coast of Yakushima island.
The main parts of the crashed Osprey were discovered on Dec. 4 about 2 to 3 kilometers south-southwest of where it disappeared from radar.
Radars can lose track of aircraft flying at low altitudes, suggesting the Osprey was traveling near the surface of the water following some sort of mechanical problem.
A Japanese Defense Ministry official said the aircraft apparently lost its propulsive force due to a technical malfunction, citing witness accounts of the Osprey spinning with its left side damaged moments before the crash.
One witness told The Asahi Shimbun that the aircraft was flying upside down with its left engine on fire.
The ministry official also suggested the aircraft might have been carried by ocean currents from the location of the crash to the discovery point.
The bodies of three airmen have been recovered while work is continuing to retrieve the remains of three others found. Although two others remain missing, the U.S. Air Force said it presumes all eight crew members are dead.
The Osprey was stationed at the Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo. On the day of the accident, the Osprey and two other aircraft departed from the Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni in Yamaguchi Prefecture and were heading for the Kadena Air Base in Okinawa Prefecture.
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