Photo: Getty Images
The remains of five missing crew members were located during a search for the wreckage of a United States military aircraft that crashed in the sea off Japan last week, the U.S. Air Force announced Monday (December 4) morning via NBC News.
The Air Force Special Operations Command confirmed that "remains" and wreckage from the crashed Osprey CV-22B "tiltrotor" aircraft were found by a U.S.-Japanese team of divers in a statement shared just after 4:00 a.m. ET. Divers had already retrieved two of the five bodies and said they were working on retrieving the remaining three remains found with fuselage of the craft at the time of the update.
None of the individuals killed in the crash were publicly identified as of Monday. The Osprey CV-22B "tiltrotor" aircraft was carrying eight crew members when it crashed near the island of Yakushima on November 29.
"The coalition of military, coast guard, law enforcement, mariners, and local volunteers remain steadfast in locating and bringing the US Service Members back to their units and their families," the Air Force Special Operations Command said in its statement on Monday.
The Japanese Coast Guard had previously confirmed that one person was found unconscious from the water and later died in relation to the crash. Two of the eight crew members remain unaccounted for as of Monday.
“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 said in its statement.