At least one dead after U.S. military aircraft crashes off coast of Japan

• It is not yet clear what caused the crash.
• The Japanese Coast Guard and the Pentagon did not immediately respond on Thursday to Axios' request for information on the incident.

Details: The local coast guard was alerted to the crash after receiving an emergency call from a nearby fishing boat, CBS News reported.

• The coast guard deployed patrol vessels and aircraft to the scene, where rescuers found "wreckage-like debris" and an overturned life raft with no people, per NBC News.
• Japan's vice defense minister Hiroyuki Miyazawa told local media that the aircraft that crashed was a CV-22 Osprey from the U.S. Air Force Yokota Air Base, per NBC News.

Of note: There have been a number of fatal crashes involving Osprey military aircraft in recent years.

• In August, three U.S. marines died after an Osprey carrying 23 people crashed in Australia during a routine exercise.
• Last year, five marines died after an Osprey crashed during a training mission in California.
• In March 2022, four U.S. service members were killed in an Osprey crash in Norway during a NATO training exercise.

Editor's note: This story was updated to reflect the Japanese Coast Guard did not respond to a request for information, as well as the revised number of passengers aboard the aircraft.