5 bodies, main wreckage spotted in search for missing U.S. Osprey crew

What appears to be the main part of a U.S. military Osprey aircraft that crashed last week in waters off southwestern Japan and five bodies have been spotted underwater in search operations, a source familiar with the matter said Monday.

The around-the-clock search and rescue operation, involving divers, continues after a U.S. Air Force CV-22 crashed Wednesday near Yakushima Island in Kagoshima Prefecture, leaving a crew member dead and seven others missing.

Some pieces of the wreckage of the tilt-rotor aircraft, which went down during a training exercise near the island, were collected by a local coast guard and fishermen, and have been handed over to the U.S. military.

The latest incident marked the first-ever fatal accident in Japan involving an Osprey, rekindling concerns over the safety of the airplane. The cause of the accident has yet to be known.