Japan has asked the United States to refrain from flying U.S. Marine Corps Osprey aircraft in Japan after one of the tilt-rotor helicopters crashed off Australia, Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera said Sunday.
Three U.S. Marines were missing after an Osprey crashed off the coast of Shoalwater Bay near Rockhampton in Queensland state Saturday.
Ospreys are deployed at U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Japan’s southern island prefecture of Okinawa, where local residents have expressed concern about the safety of the aircraft that have a history of fatal accidents overseas.
==Kyodo
