The US Air Force announced on Tuesday that the eight soldiers who were aboard a US Army Osprey plane that crashed into the sea on November 29 off southwestern Japan are all presumed dead.
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The US Air Force Special Operations Command said in a statement that authorities found six bodies, including five, on Monday, but the operations were no longer considered rescues because it was “unlikely” to find any survivors.
He added: “The remains of three of the eight soldiers were recovered, and the remains of three others are now being recovered, and the remains of two soldiers are still to be found.”
The plane crashed into the sea not far from Yakushima Island during a training mission.
Joe Biden and his wife said, “Pray for the families and loved ones of those who lost loved ones in this horrific accident,” according to a press statement by the US President, thanking Japan for its assistance.
“Our military and their families are the backbone of our nation,” he added.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement that he was “deeply saddened” and stressed that a “full and rigorous investigation” would be conducted to understand the circumstances of the incident.
Ospreys are military aircraft that can take off and land vertically like a helicopter and fly like an airplane. Several recent incidents have highlighted questions about its reliability.
At the end of August, three US Marines were killed in a plane crash of this type in northern Australia, and in 2022, four more died in Norway when their Osprey plane crashed during training exercises.
Japan has suspended flights of its Osprey aircraft since the accident that occurred on November 29, and has asked the US military to do the same on Japanese soil, as a precautionary measure.
The US Army has about 54,000 soldiers stationed in Japan.
