2 US planes crash off Japan, leaving 1 dead, 5 missing
TOKYO: One of two crew members recovered after two US warplanes collided and crashed off Japan’s coast early on Thursday is dead and five others remain missing, the US military said.
The Marine Corps said the other recovered crew member was in fair condition.
It said an F/A-18 Hornet fighter jet and a KC-130 Hercules refuelling aircraft collided during training at about 2am local time after taking off from their base in Iwakuni, near Hiroshima.
The seven crew members included two in the F/A-18 and five in the KC-130.
The Marines said in a statement the two planes were involved in routine training, including aerial refuelling, but that it was still investigating what was happening when the accident occurred.
The crash took place 320km off the coast, according to the US military. Japanese officials said it occurred closer to the coast, about 100km, and that’s where the search and rescue mission found the two crew members.
Japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Force, which dispatched aircraft and vessels to join in the search operation, said rescuers found one of the crew from the fighter jet in stable condition.
The Marines said the crew member was taken to a hospital on the base in Iwakuni and was in fair condition.
US President Donald Trump tweeted on Thursday that his prayers are with the Marine Corps crew members involved in the collision. He thanked the US forces in Japan for their “immediate response and rescue efforts”. He wrote, “Whatever you need, we are here for you.”
The crash is the latest in recent series of accidents involving the US military deployed to and near Japan.
Last month, a US Navy F/A-18 Hornet from the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan crashed into the sea southwest of Japan’s southern island of Okinawa, though its two pilots were rescued safely.