One person has been discovered dead close to the crash scene, according to Japan's Coast Guard.







With one engine on fire, the hybrid CV-22 Osprey plane was attempting to land at Yakushima Airport, according to a station from Japan called NHK. The US has not commented.






Over the years, Ospreys—which can operate as both a helicopter and a turboprop—have been engaged in a number of deadly collisions.





The plane that went down on Wednesday was believed to be traveling from Kadena base, located in the southwest of the country in Okinawa, to Iwakuni base, located in the western Yamaguchi prefecture.


The aircraft vanished from ther on Wednesday at 14:40 local time (05:40 GMT), according to Japan's defense ministry.



Five minutes later, the Coast Guard got a distress call indicating that the jet had crashed.






Six boats and two helicopters were dispatched to the scene. A representative for the BBC said that at 16:00 the helicopters saw what seemed to be a piece of the aircraft and a life raft.




Eight persons were reportedly on board the plane, however the Coast Guard later reduced that figure.




It released images of what appears to be the wreckage of the aircraft off the coast of Yakushima.







The jet was circling on Wednesday before it exploded and crashed into the sea, an eyewitness told local TV.






South of Kyushu Island in Japan is the prefecture of Kagoshima, home to Yakushima.


There are almost 50,000 US soldiers stationed in Japan.







Three US marines were among the twenty-three people on board when a different model Osprey crashed in northern Australia in August while conducting a military drill for soldiers stationed there.





When an Osprey attempted to land at sea off the northern coast of Australia in 2017, it clipped the back of a transport ship, killing three marines in the process.