At least one dead as US military’s Osprey aircraft crashes in Sea of Japan

Asia-Pacific, News, US November 30, 2023 , by IRIA No Comments

A U.S. military tilt-rotor V-22 Osprey aircraft carrying six personnel crashed in the Sea of Japan on November 29, 2023. The crash resulted in the death of at least one crew member while the condition of at least two crew members remains unclear.

According to the Japanese coast guards, the crash happened approximately 3 kilometers off the coast of Yakushima Island into the sea in western Japan. The crash site was first indicated by the local fishing vessels in the vicinity who also discovered three individuals in the nearby waters.

A U.S. official also confirmed the aircraft crashed off the coast of Japan’s Yakushima Island. Search and rescue operations are ongoing as the status of some of the crew members remains unknown, a U.S. military official said.

The Yakushima Airport Management Office in Kagoshima Prefecture reported that it received a call from the U.S. military aviation in the afternoon requesting for an emergency landing at Kagoshima Airport, however, the aircraft crashed before attempting the emergency landing at the airport.

Witnesses and local media reports said that the aircraft’s left engine appeared to be on fire as it approached the airport for landing. Despite clear weather and light wind, the aircraft failed to conduct proper landing maneuvers and crashed into the nearby waters.

US MV-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft wreckage — _{^{A wreck believed to belong to the U.S. military aircraft MV-22 Osprey that crashed into the sea off Yakushima Island, Kagoshima prefecture, western Japan on November 29, 2023, in this handout photo taken by Japan Coast Guard airplane. (Image Credit: Japan Coast Guard/via Reuters)}}

Another Osprey aircraft that was accompanying the crashed plane landed safely at the island’s airport following the incident. According to a spokesperson of the U.S. forces in Japan, the investigation into the cause of the crash is underway.

History of crashes

The Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft has been in service for decades since its inception in the 1980s. Although its safety record has significantly improved with ongoing enhancements, this is not the first crash incident that involves an Osprey aircraft.

Generally, the relatively new design of Bell Boeing’s tiltrotor planes has proven to be safe for short-haul flights that involve vertical take-off and landing. However, the plane also has a prominent track record of failures.

In August this year, a U.S. Marine Corps MV-22B Osprey aircraft crashed in Australia. The plane was carrying 23 Marine soldiers, three of them have been reported dead while 20 suffered severe injuries.

*^{U.S. Marines land in V-22 Ospreys inland from Midge Point, Australia, during Exercise Talisman Sabre, July 26, 2023. (Image Credit: David Vergun/DOD)}*

The aircraft flew on August 27, 2023, from Darwin towards the Tiwi islands, about 80 kilometers north of Australia’s mainland. The plane suffered technical failures during the flight and tried a crash landing at Melville Island which resulted in the death of at least three personnel.

In 2022, five U.S. Marines died in a deadly crash involving the same type of aircraft. The accident took place in Glamis, California during a military training session. During the same year, another Osprey aircraft crashed during a NATO exercise in Norway resulting in the death of four U.S. military personnel.