The CV-22B Osprey had eight on board, the Air Force said, as rescuers searched waters near Yakushima, an island off the Kagoshima region on the southern main island of Kyushu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
TOKYO \u2014 A U.S. military Osprey aircraft<\/a> crashed into waters off southern Japan<\/a> on Wednesday morning, killing at least one person and leaving several more missing, authorities said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A regional coast guard spokesperson confirmed to NBC News that the plane crashed into the ocean near Yakushima, an island about 45 miles south of the Kagoshima region on the southern main island of Kyushu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The coast guard said in an earlier statement that eight people were on board the plane, a figure that was revised downward. But then later on Wednesday, the Air Force Special Operations Command issued a statement, saying eight were on board.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The coast guard confirmed that one man was recovered from the sea \u201cunconscious and was not breathing\u201d 1.8 miles from Anbo Port, which is near the accident site on the eastern side of Yakushima, by a boat from the Yakushima Town Rescue Center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He was given CPR and taken to Anbo Port, it said. The unnamed crew member was later pronounced dead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There were no immediate details available on the status of the aircraft or the rest of those on board.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The coast guard said in a statement that a member of the public called 118, Japan\u2019s version of 911, at 2:47 p.m. (12:47 a.m. ET). The coast guard said it immediately deployed patrol vessels and aircraft to the scene.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At 4 p.m. (2 a.m. ET) a rescue team including boats from the coast guard and a local rescue center found \u201cwreckage-like debris\u201d and an overturned life raft, the coast guard said. There were no people in the raft, the coast guard said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The CV-22B Osprey is based at Yokota Air Base<\/a> and assigned to the 353rd Special Operations Wing<\/a>, according to the AFSOC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The aircraft was involved a “mishap while performing a routine training mission off the shore of Yakushima Island,” the Air Force said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIn light of this incident, the minister of defense has asked the relevant departments to cooperate with the Japan Coast Guard to confirm whether or not there are any victims and to do their utmost to rescue them,\u201d Hiroyuki Miyazawa, Japan\u2019s vice defense minister, told local reporters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Asked why he\u2019d not called the incident a crash, Miyazawa said: \u201cThe U.S. side explained to us that the pilot did his best until the very end, so we\u2019re using the term \u2018emergency water landing.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Osprey is a hybrid aircraft famous for its unique “tilt-rotor” flight system, which allows it to take off and land like a helicopter but fly like an airplane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There have been a number of fatal accidents involving the aircraft in recent years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n An Osprey with 23 U.S. Marines on board crashed in Australia in August<\/a> during a routine training exercise, killing three including its pilot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n All five U.S. Marines on board an MV-22B died after it\u2002crashed east of San Diego during a training mission in June 2022<\/a>, following the death of four U.S. Marines on board an MV-22 in Norway three months earlier<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Defense Department stood by its use of the plane in 2015 after one Marine was killed and 21 injured<\/a> in a crash at a military base in Hawaii.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The CV-22B is fitted with rotors on each wing, allowing it to take off and land like a helicopter but also fly like a turboprop airplane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s generally used \u201cto conduct long-range infiltration, exfiltration and resupply missions for special operations forces,\u201d according to the Air Force<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n