3 Missing As U.S Navy Plane Crashes In Philippines
No fewer than three people are missing after a US Navy plane crashed into waters southeast of Japan’s Okinawa island on Wednesday, the U.S. Seventh Fleet said.
11 people were on board the aircraft when it went down around 2:45 p.m. Japan Standard Time, but eight of them have been rescued and are in good condition aboard the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan.
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US and Japanese ships and planes are searching the area for the three people who remain missing.
The crash happened approximately 500 nautical miles southeast of Okinawa as the C2-A Greyhound aircraft was on course to land on the Reagan, the U.S Navy said.
The propeller powered transport plane, a C-2 Greyhound, was transporting passengers and cargo from the Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni in Japan to the aircraft carrier.
“USS Ronald Reagan is conducting search and rescue operations. The cause of the crash is not yet known,” it said in a press release.
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The Reagan is operating in the Philippine Sea as part of an exercise with Japan’s naval defense force.
The cause of the crash is not yet known but Japanese Minister of Defence Itsunori Onodera told reporters the U.S. Navy had informed him that it may have been a result of engine trouble.
