Divers have discovered wreckage and the remains of crew members from a US Air Force Osprey aircraft that crashed off south-western Japan last week, the Air Force announced on Monday.
The CV-22 Osprey was carrying eight American crew when it crashed off Yakushima Island during a training mission last Wednesday.
The body of one victim was recovered and identified earlier, while seven others remained missing.
The Air Force Special Operations Command said the remains are being recovered and the identities have yet to be determined.
“The main priority is bringing the airmen home and taking care of their family members. Support to, and the privacy of, the families and loved ones impacted by this incident remains Afsoc’s top priority,” it said in a statement.
On Saturday, the US military identified the one confirmed victim as Air Force Staff Sergeant Jacob Galliher, of Pittsfield, Massachusetts.
On Monday, divers from the Japanese navy and US military spotted what appeared to be the front section of the Osprey, along with possibly five of the missing crew members, Japan’s NHK public television and other media reported.
Japanese navy officials declined to confirm the reports, saying they could not release details without consent from the US.
The US-made Osprey is a hybrid aircraft that takes off and lands like a helicopter but can rotate its propellers forward and cruise much faster, like an aeroplane, during flight.
Ospreys have been involved in a number of crashes, including in Japan, where they are used at US and Japanese military bases, and the latest incident has rekindled safety concerns.
Japan has suspended all flights of its own fleet of 14 Ospreys.
