U.S. Air Force Finds Remains of Five Crew Members From Osprey Wreckage in Japan
The U.S. military and Japan’s Marine Self-Defense Forces found submerged wreckage from an Osprey aircraft that crashed on Nov. 29 in southwest Japan near the island of Yakushima, according to a Monday statement by the U.S. Air Force. The cockpit contained five of the eight crew members who were onboard, but they have yet to be publicly identified. Last week, 24-year-old Staff Sgt. Jacob M. Galliher was found and named as one of the crash victims. The Bell Boeing CV-22 accident, which occurred during a training flight, was the first fatal Osprey incident in Japan. The military aircraft had asked for an emergency landing on Yakushima before crashing off the island’s shore. Witnesses claimed the Osprey flipped over and was on fire prior to falling into the ocean. A day after the crash, Japan requested that the U.S. military suspend Osprey flights, but The Wall Street Journal reported that the aircraft is still being used in Japan. Since the beginning of its use in 2007, the Osprey has led to accidents that have killed dozens of U.S. military personnel.
