Japan has asked the US to suspend all non-emergency flights of V-22 Osprey aircraft over its territory after one of them crashed into the sea Wednesday in western Japan.
The US Air Force said the cause of the crash that killed at least one person was currently unknown. The search for the remaining seven crew members continues. Minoru Kihara said in parliament on Thursday:
The occurrence of such an accident causes great anxiety to the people of the region… and we are requesting the US side to conduct flights of Ospreys deployed in Japan after these flights are confirmed to be safe.
Japan’s Self-Defence Forces (SDF), which also operates Ospreys, will suspend flights of the transport plane until the circumstances of the incident are clarified. A US military spokesman in Japan did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Rahm Emanuel, the US ambassador to Japan, wrote on X:
Our focus is on the ongoing search and rescue operations, and we’re praying for a safe return.
Eyewitnesses reported that the plane’s left engine was on fire as it approached the airport for an emergency landing in clear weather and light winds, media reports said.
Developed by Boeing (BA.N) and Bell Helicopter, the hybrid V-22, which can land and take off like a helicopter and fly like an aeroplane, is operated by the US Air Force, Marines and Navy, as well as the SDF.
Japan’s deployment of the aircraft is controversial in the community, with critics of the US military presence in the southwestern islands saying it is fraught with accidents. The US and Japan argue it is safe.
Japan is home to the largest concentration of US military power abroad, with the only forward-deployed US carrier strike group, its Asian airlift centre, fighter squadrons and the US Marine Expeditionary Force.
