Okinawa hosts U.S Military bases and
thousands of personnel. Japan's coast
guard sent an aircraft to check if there
was any debris or floating oil as a
result of the crash.
A spokesperson told
the afp news agency, this is the second recent incident
involving the USS Ronald Reagan.
In mid-october a U.S Navy MH-60 Seahawk Helicopter crashed on the flight deck of
the carrier, injuring 12 people.
The US 7th fleet which stays deployed
in the asia pacific region is made up of
at least 50 ships and submarines at any
given time, along with 140 aircraft and
some 20,000 sailors. Five missing after Japan crash declared
dead. Five missing marines have been
declared dead by the US Military.
Nearly
a week after two aircraft collided and
crashed into the sea off Japan.
A massive search and rescue operation
was mounted after the incident, involving
a F/A-18 Fighter and a KC-130 refueling tanker carrying seven
crew in total. One crew member survived and tuesday's
announcement brings the final death toll
to six the exact cause remains unclear.
The crash is said to have occurred
during a refuelling exercise but the US Military has not confirmed this. Every possible effort was made to
recover our crew and i hope the families
of these selfless americans will find
comfort in the incredible efforts made
by US, Japanese and Australian forces
during the search, said US Marine Corps Lieutenant General Eric Smith.
The
identities of the five marines declared
dead have not yet been released. The incident occurred in the early hours
about 200 miles off the coast of
southwestern Japan.
The US planes had taken off from Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni near Hiroshima
and were conducting regularly scheduled
training when the mishap occurred, the
third marine expeditionary force said.
Two marines were rescued after the
incident but one was declared dead. he
has been identified as Captain Jamar Riesler, the pilot of the F/A-18.
There were five personnel on the C-130 and two on the F-18. The KC-130 is an extended range tanker
version of the C-130 and is used for
mid-air refuelling.
The Mcdonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet is a
fighter and attack aircraft and can
carry a wide range of missiles and bombs. The US has some 50,000 troops stationed
in Japan, more than 18,000 of them in the U.S Marine Corps. There have been several recent incidents
involving u.s military aircraft.
In
november an F/A-18 Hornet crashed into
the sea south of Okinawa. The two pilots ejected and were rescued. last december part of a U.S helicopter
crashed onto a school in Okinawa, renewing tensions with the local
population.
