The U.S. military said Monday it located five more bodies from last week’s fatal Osprey crash in southwestern Japan.
Search teams, made up of ships and divers, located the five bodies along with the main fuselage of the CV-22 Osprey aircraft, which crashed near Yakushima, Japan, on Nov. 29.
The discovery means six of the bodies of the Osprey crew have now been recovered from the aircraft, which took off with a team of eight.
One body from the wreckage was recovered last week. The military identified that person over the weekend as Air Force Staff Sgt. Jacob Galliher, 24, of Massachusetts, who was assigned to the 43rd Intelligence Squadron based out of Yokota Air Base in Japan.
Air Force Special Operations Command said teams were continuing to search for the remaining two bodies.
“The military has also turned to dispatching professional support for the care of the families,” officials said in a statement. “As efforts persist for the location and recovery of the entire crew, the privacy of the families and loved ones impacted by this tragic incident remains a great concern.”
The Osprey crash prompted Japan to suspend all nonemergency flights of the hybrid aircraft, but the U.S. is continuing to use them for the time being as crews search for the rest of the bodies.
The Osprey, which takes off like a helicopter but can cruise at a faster rate, is typically used to transport special forces. The aircraft has faced persistent issues with crashes, including another one in Japan in 2016.
Source : The Hill
