(KAGOSHIMA, Japan) — The search for the seven crew members missing after a U.S. military Osprey crashed off the shore of Yakushima Island in southern Japan has yielded no new clues, the Japanese Coast Guard said Saturday.
Dive searches were conducted in areas identified by side-scan sonar, both in the morning and afternoon, yet no new information has surfaced after the CV-22 Osprey aircraft crashed on Wednesday, the 10th Regional Coast Guard told ABC News.
At least one U.S. airman who had been onboard the aircraft was recovered from the ocean and later died, Japanese officials said.
The airman was identified by the Air Force on Friday as Staff Sgt. Jacob “Jake” M. Galliher, 24, a direct support operator assigned to the 43rd Intelligence Squadron.
The crash took place during a “routine training mission,” according to the U.S. Air Force, which added that the cause is currently unknown.
The Osprey, a vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, or VTOL, is manufactured by Bell Boeing.
The search, involving patrol vessels, is scheduled to continue Sunday.
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