Tension is mounting as a US Osprey military aircraft carrying eight crew members crashed on Wednesday off a Japanese island, News About Nigeria reports.
The CV-22 Osprey belonged to the US Yokota Air Base in Tokyo.
This incident is the latest in a series of accidents involving the tilt-rotor military aircraft.
According to reports, it is unclear whether there are any survivors. However, the coastguard stated that one unconscious person was found at the scene and transported to a nearby port for resuscitation attempts.
Around 3 p.m. on Wednesday, the US military’s Osprey crashed off Yakushima Island.
The coastguard has mobilized patrol ships and aircraft around Yakushima, which is located south of Japan’s southernmost main island of Kyushu.
The Osprey was en route from the Iwakuni US base near Hiroshima in the Yamaguchi region to the Kadena base further south in Okinawa.
Despite having about 54,000 personnel in the country, the US embassy in Japan has not responded to the reports, adding to the uncertainty about a likely response from the United States.
The Osprey, developed by Bell Helicopters and Boeing, can operate as a helicopter or a fixed-wing plane and has suffered a string of fatal crashes over the years.
Previously, a crash in northern Australia killed three US Marines among the 23 crew members on board.
Investigations revealed that the Boeing MV-22B Osprey crashed on Melville Island, north of Darwin, during a military exercise for locally based troops.
However, the circumstances surrounding the accident are not yet known, but it is believed that the investigation is ongoing.
