U.S. military officials confirmed on Sunday that the remains of the seventh of eight crew members from an Osprey aircraft that crashed off southern Japan during a training mission late last month has been found.
The Air Force CV-22 aircraft crashed just off Yakushima Island while in route to Okinawa, Japan on Nov. 29, 2023.
Bodies of six of the crew members had been recovered since the crash, including five from the sunken wreckage.
US MILITARY IDENTIFIES ALL 8 CREW MEMBERS OF DEADLY AIR FORCE OSPREY CRASH NEAR JAPAN
FILE – A U.S. military CV-22 Osprey takes off from Iwakuni base, Yamaguchi prefecture, western Japan, on July 4, 2018. Japanese and American military divers have spotted what could be the remains of a U.S. Air Force Osprey aircraft that crashed last week off southwestern Japan and several of the six crewmembers who are still missing, local media reported Monday, Dec. 4, 2023. (Kyodo News via AP)
On Sunday, the U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command issued a statement on the recovery efforts.
“During a combined U.S.-Japanese search and rescue in the vicinity of Yakushima, Japan on Dec. 10, 2023, divers from the U.S. Navy and divers from the 320th Special Tactics Squadron recovered the remains of one of two remaining Airmen from the CV-22 mishap that occurred on Nov. 29, 2023,” the statement read. “Currently there is a combined effort in locating and recovering the remains of our eighth Airman. The main priority is bringing our Airmen home and taking care of their family members.”
The statement added that the identity of the Airman was known but would not be released until next of kin had been notified.
A Japan’s coast guard vessel conducts search and rescue operation around the site where a U.S. military Osprey aircraft was believed to crash in the sea off Yakushima Island, Kagoshima prefecture, southern Japan Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2023. Japan’s coast guard has found a person and debris in the ocean where a U.S. military Osprey aircraft carrying eight people crashed Wednesday off southern Japan, officials said. (Kyodo News via AP)
Fox News Digital reached out to the U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command seeking the identity but did not immediately hear back.
The U.S. military announced Wednesday the grounding of all its Osprey CV-22 aircraft, one week after eight Air Force Special Operations Command service members died in a crash off the coast of Japan.
JAPAN SUSPENDS ALL OSPREY FLIGHTS AFTER DEADLY CRASH OF US AIR FORCE AIRCRAFT
The members of Japanese Coast Guard carry the debris which are believed to be from the crashed U.S. military Osprey aircraft, at a port in Yakushima, Kagoshima prefecture, southern Japan, Monday, Dec. 4, 2023. Japanese and American military divers have spotted what could be the remains of a U.S. Air Force Osprey aircraft that crashed last week off southwestern Japan and several of the six crewmembers who are still missing, local media reported Monday. (Kyodo News via AP)
Lt. Gen. Tony Bauernfeind, head of Air Force Special Operations Command, directed the grounding “to mitigate risk while the investigation continues,” the command said in a statement.
The military said that the “standdown” of the Osprey CV-22 aircraft will “provide time and space” for a thorough investigation and to ensure a safe return to operations.
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The extraordinary decision to ground the entire fleet of CV-22 Ospreys came after a preliminary investigation revealed that a material failure was the cause of the devastating crash — not a mistake by the crew.
Sarah Rumpf of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.
