A U.S. military ship is recovering wreckage believed to be from a crashed U.S. Air Force V-22 Osprey off the southwestern coast of Japan. The Osprey, based at Yokota Air Base and carrying eight passengers, crashed on Nov. 29 during routine training in Kagoshima Prefecture.
The crash killed all eight passengers. Seven of the crewmen were recovered and the search is ongoing for the remaining individual. The cause of the accident is under investigation.
More than 50 U.S. service members have died in Osprey crashes since 2007, and 20 of those service members died in four crashes over the last 20 months.
As a precautionary measure, all Osprey models have been grounded since Dec. 6.
Marines have almost 400 of the aircraft and rely on them for all of their airborne operations. Meanwhile, Air Force Special Operations Command said that it was looking into ways to mitigate the loss of its own aircraft. And the Navy has been transitioning its sea to greyhound propeller planes.
