Dec. 4 (UPI) — U.S.-Japanese search and rescue divers have found an Osprey military transport aircraft that crashed during a training flight south of Kyushu on Wednesday along with human remains, the U.S. Airforce said.
A joint operation is underway to recover the remains from the downed CV-22 aircraft which was discovered on the seabed Sunday near Yakushima Island during a combined U.S.-Japanese search and rescue dive, Air Force Special Operations Command said in a news release.
The military said it had not yet determined the identities of the deceased and it was unclear if the wreckage contained all of the personnel unaccounted for.
“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.”
The Air Force earlier identified a victim of the crash who was found Wednesday as Air Force Staff Sgt. Jacob M. Galliher, 24, of Pittsfield, Mass., a language specialist working in intelligence out of Yokota Air Base, west of Tokyo. He enlisted in 2017.
“Jacob was a beloved husband, father, son, and brother as well as a model Airman who will be forever remembered for his dedication to this great nation and his fellow warriors,” said U.S. Air Force Maj. Gilbert Summers, 43rd Intelligence Squadron, Detachment 1 Commander.
The aircraft came down in the ocean after a witness reported seeing the left engine on fire moments before it crashed and disappeared from the Coast Guard’s radar screen.
The major search and rescue operation mounted afterward combined U.S. military-Japanese Coast Guard air, surface, and subsurface area searches of the water and coastline. Rescue assets included the USS Carl Vinson and its air wing, divers, unmanned vehicles, and search and rescue experts.
The crash prompted concern from Japan as the United States continued to fly Osprey aircraft in the following days despite a request by Tokyo to halt the flights.
Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hrikazu Matsuno on Friday said the United States had halted flights of CV-22 Ospreys, like the one involved, in the crash but continued flights of others.
