TOKYO: Japan said it has asked the US to suspend all non-emergency V-22 Osprey flights over its territory after one fell into the sea on Wednesday in western Japan, marking the country’s first fatal US military plane crash in five years.

The US Air Force said the cause of the mishap during a routine training mission, which killed at least one person, is currently unknown. Search and rescue operations to find the remaining seven crew are still ongoing.

“The occurrence of such an accident causes great anxiety to the people of the region... and we are requesting the US side to conduct flights of Ospreys deployed in Japan after these flights are confirmed to be safe,” Japan defence minister Minoru Kihara said in parliament on Thursday.

The Japan Self-Defence Forces (SDF), which also operates Ospreys, will suspend flights of the transport aircraft until the circumstances of the incident are clarified, another defence ministry official said.

Speaking to reporters later in the evening, Kihara confirmed reports that the US military was still operating its Ospreys, saying that Japan’s regional defence bureau had counted 20 landings and takeoffs of Ospreys around US bases by 3:30pm on Thursday.“Our focus is on the ongoing search and rescue operations, and we’re praying for a safe return,” Rahm Emanuel, the US ambassador to Japan, said in a post on X.

Witnesses said the aircraft’s left engine appeared to be on fire as it approached an airport for an emergency landing in clear weather and light winds, media reported.

Published in Dawn, December 1st, 2023