US military aircraft with eight aboard crashes off Japan island

A US military aircraft with eight personnel on board has crashed off the coast of Japan.

Local media quoted officials who said the remains of the CV-22 Osprey have likely been found off Yakushima Island.

Japanese broadcaster NHK said the Osprey was trying to land at Yakushima airport. The plane’s left engine was on fire, it added.

It was thought to be heading from Yokota air base in Tokyo to Kadena base in Okinawa.

Yakushima, in Kagoshima prefecture, is located south of Japan’s Kyushu island. The Osprey is an aircraft that can function as a helicopter and a turboprop aircraft.

It has been involved in a string of fatal crashes over the years. In August, another Osprey crashed in northern Australia during a military exercise for locally based troops, killing three US marines among the 23 on board.

In 2017, three marines were killed when an Osprey crashed after clipping the back of a transport ship while trying to land at sea off Australia’s north coast.