U.S. Continues to Fly Osprey Aircraft in Japan for Now – Pentagon

WASHINGTON (Reuters) — The United States is continuing to operate its military Osprey flights for now, the Pentagon said on Thursday, even as Japan said it had asked the U.S. to suspend all non-emergency V-22 Osprey flights over its territory after one fell into the sea on Wednesday in western Japan.
In a briefing in Washington, the Pentagon said the search and rescue operations continued for the eight on board.
I’m not tracking an official request received here at the department, Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh told reporters.
Right now, the Ospreys are still operating in Japan, she added.
The cause of the crash is under investigation.
On Wednesday, Japan’s coast guard said what appeared to be wreckage from the tilt-rotor V-22 Osprey and one person, who was later confirmed to have died, were found about 3 km from the shore.
The occurrence of such an accident causes great anxiety to the people of the region … and we are requesting the U.S. side to conduct flights of Ospreys deployed in Japan after these flights are confirmed to be safe, Japan defense minister Minoru Kihara said in parliament on Thursday.