A US military plane with eight people on board has crashed off the island of Yakushima in southwestern Japan.
Japan’s coast guard said one person was found dead near the crash site.
Japan’s NHK broadcaster said the CV-22 Osprey hybrid aircraft was trying to land at Yakushima airport with one engine on fire. There has been no US comment.
Ospreys – which can function as a helicopter and a turboprop aircraft – have been involved in a number of fatal crashes over the years.
The plane that crashed Wednesday was believed to be flying from the Iwakuni base in western Yamaguchi prefecture to the Kadena base in the country’s southwesternmost Okinawa region.
Japan’s Defense Ministry said the plane disappeared from radar at 14:40 local time (05:40 GMT) on Wednesday.
The coast guard received a distress call five minutes later saying the plane had crashed.
It then sent six boats and two helicopters to the scene. At 16:00, the helicopters spotted what looked like part of the plane and a life raft, a spokesman told the BBC.
Earlier reports said six people were on board the plane, but that number was later revised by both U.S. and Japanese authorities.
It posted photos of what it said was the wreckage of the plane off Yakushima.
An eyewitness told local television that the plane had been circling before exploding and crashing into the sea on Wednesday.
Another Osprey, believed to have been flying alongside, landed safely in Yakushima, local officials said.
