Eight people are killed when a US Osprey aircraft crashes off the coast of Japan.

Eight people are killed when a US Osprey aircraft crashes off the coast of Japan.

Eight people were on board a US military Osprey aircraft when it crashed off the coast of Yakushima Island in southern Kagoshima prefecture on Wednesday, according to a Japan Coast Guard spokesman.

The 10th Regional Coast Guard Headquarters has sent a patrol boat and an aircraft to the crash site, according to the spokeswoman, who also stated that the Coast Guard received information about the incident at approximately 2:47 p.m. local time (12:47 a.m. ET).

According to the spokesperson, there has only been one person recovered thus far, and they were aided in their search by a nearby fishing vessel. However, at this time, neither the person's condition nor the existence of any injuries among others on board are known.

According to a Kagoshima prefectural official speaking to CNN, the US military called the Yakushima Airport Management Office in Kagoshima Prefecture on Wednesday afternoon and requested an emergency landing at Kagoshima Airport.

The representative from Kagoshima Prefectural did not indicate if the request originated with the US Air Force or Marines.

Several Osprey military aircraft crashes have been documented over the years; this one is the most recent.

This August, during military drills in Australia, an Osprey crashed, killing three US Marines and critically wounding numerous more.

Five US Marines lost their lives in 2022 when their MV-22B Osprey aircraft crashed when they were on a training mission close to Glamis, California. During NATO training operations in Norway that same year, an Osprey aircraft carrying four US service men went down and killed them.

The Osprey is a very adaptable aircraft that can cruise at high speed like a typical turboprop plane with wings and take off vertically like a helicopter.

According to CNN military commentator and former US Air Force Col. Cedric Leighton, Ospreys are generally safe to fly, but since the aircraft's introduction in the 1980s, there has been a history of mechanical and operational problems.