TOKYO - In a tragic incident, a crew member who was recovered from the ocean after a U.S. military Osprey aircraft crashed off the southern coast of Japan has been pronounced dead, according to coast guard officials. The cause of the crash and the status of the remaining five individuals on board are yet to be determined.

The coast guard spokesperson, Kazuo Ogawa, reported that an emergency call was received from a fishing boat near the crash site off Yakushima, which is an island south of Kagoshima on the southern main island of Kyushu. The initial reports suggested that the aircraft was carrying eight people, but the U.S. military later revised the number to six.

Coast guard aircraft and patrol boats deployed in the area discovered one person, who unfortunately succumbed to their injuries at a nearby hospital. Along with the crew member, they also found gray-colored debris believed to be from the aircraft around 1 kilometer (0.6 mile) off the eastern coast of Yakushima. Additionally, an empty inflatable life raft was discovered in the vicinity.

While details regarding the damage and the cause of the crash are still being ascertained, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno emphasized that the government's highest priority is to save lives. The Osprey is a hybrid aircraft that can take off and land like a helicopter but has the ability to rotate its propellers forward and fly at a higher speed like an airplane. Various versions of the Osprey are operated by the U.S. Marine Corps, Navy, and Air Force.

According to Ogawa, the ill-fated aircraft had departed from the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni in Yamaguchi prefecture and was en route to Kadena Air Base on Okinawa when the incident occurred. Vice Defense Minister Hiroyuki Miyazawa stated that the Osprey had attempted an emergency sea landing.

Eyewitnesses reported seeing fire coming from the Osprey's left engine, as mentioned by the Kyodo News agency, quoting Kagoshima prefectural officials. In response to the crash, a Japanese military base in Saga, located in southern Japan, decided to postpone scheduled Osprey flight exercises on Thursday.

The U.S. and Japanese officials have confirmed that the aircraft belonged to Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo. However, U.S. Air Force officials at Yokota stated that they are still in the process of verifying the information and had no immediate comments to make.

The Osprey has had a number of accidents in the past, including incidents in Japan where they are deployed at both U.S. and Japanese military bases. Following this incident, Governor Denny Tamaki of Okinawa expressed his intention to ask the U.S. military to suspend all Osprey flights in Japan. In 2016, a U.S. Marine Corps Osprey crashed off the coast of Okinawa, causing injuries to two out of the five crew members and sparking concerns about the safety record of the Osprey among local residents.

This is the fifth fatal crash involving a Marine Osprey since 2012, bringing the death toll at that time to at least 19. Investigations into the recent crash and ensuring aviation safety in the region will be of paramount importance in the coming days.