5 missing Marines declared dead

TOKYO — The U.S. military said Tuesday that five missing crew members have been declared dead after their refueling plane collided with a fighter jet last week off Japan’s southern coast, and that search and recovery operations have ended after finding only one survivor.

The five were on a KC-130 Hercules refueling aircraft that collided last Thursday with an F/A-18 Hornet during regular training. The warplanes crashed into the sea south of Japan’s Shikoku island.

Two crew members in the F/A-18 were recovered after the accident, but one died. The U.S. Marines said the survivor was in stable condition when rescued.

The search, joined by Japanese and Australian forces, was halted Tuesday, and the cause of the crash is still under investigation, the Marines said in a statement.

It said the identities of the five people declared dead will be released after their next of kin are notified.

The Marines earlier identified the dead pilot of the F/A-18 as Capt. Jahmar Resilard, 28, of Miramar, Fla.

The crash is the latest in a series of recent accidents involving U.S. military forces deployed in and near Japan.

Last month, a U.S. Navy F/A-18 Hornet crashed into the sea southwest of Japan’s southern island of Okinawa, though its two pilots were rescued. In mid-October, a MH-60 Seahawk crashed off the Philippine Sea shortly after takeoff, causing non-fatal injuries to a dozen sailors.