After a V-22 Osprey crashed into the water on Wednesday in western Japan, marking the first tragic accident of a United States military jet in Japan in the past five years, Japan has stated that it has requested that the United States ban all non-emergency V-22 Osprey flights over its territory with immediate effect.

According to the United States Air Force, the reason for the accident that occurred during a regular training operation and resulted in the death of at least one individual is yet unknown. Continued search and rescue activities are being conducted to locate the remaining seven crew members.

According to statements made by Japan’s Minister of Defense Minoru Kihara in parliament on Thursday, “The occurrence of such an accident causes great anxiety to the people of the region… and we are requesting the United States side to conduct flights of Ospreys deployed in Japan after these flights are confirmed to be safe.”

An additional official from the Ministry of Defense stated that the Japan Self-Defense Forces (SDF), also responsible for operating Ospreys, will halt the flights of the transport aircraft until the facts surrounding the event are established.

Kihara verified rumors that the United States military was still flying its Ospreys. He stated that Japan’s regional defense office had recorded twenty landings and takeoffs of Ospreys around U.S. facilities by 3:30 p.m. on Thursday. Kihara was speaking to reporters later in the evening.

In response to a request for comment, a spokeswoman for the United States military personnel stationed in Japan did not immediately react.

“Our focus is on the ongoing search and rescue operations, and we’re praying for a safe return,” Rahm Emanuel, the United States ambassador to Japan, stated in a post on X where he spoke about the situation.

As the aircraft approached an airfield for an emergency landing in clear weather and moderate winds, witnesses stated that the left engine of the aircraft seemed to be on fire. This information was widely publicized in the media.

It is flown by the United States Air Force, the United States Marine Corps and Navy, and the Singapore Defense Force (SDF). The hybrid V-22, developed by Boeing (BA.N) and Bell Helicopter, can land and take off like a helicopter and fly like a fixed-wing aircraft.

There has been a lot of controversy around aircraft deployment in Japan. Those opposed to the presence of the United States military in the southwest islands have stated that it is prone to mishaps. It is safe, according to the United States and Japan.

“It’s very regretful and it should not happen at all,” Kihara remarked to reporters on Thursday evening when they asked him for his comments on the disaster that was taking place in the southwest of Japan, where most of the United States Marines are stationed.

Japan is home to the most significant foreign concentration of United States military strength. It is the location of the sole forward-deployed United States carrier strike group, its Asian airlift base, fighter squadrons, and an expeditionary force of the United States Marine Corps.

In August, a United States Osprey aircraft that was transporting troops during a regular military exercise crashed off the coast of northern Australia, resulting in the deaths of three United States Marines.

In December 2016, another aircraft landed in the water off the southern island of Okinawa. This was the first event of its kind in Japan, resulting in the United States military temporarily suspending the aircraft.

The defense ministry reports that the most recent tragic crash involving a United States military aircraft in Japan occurred in 2018 when a mid-air collision occurred during a training exercise. The disaster resulted in the deaths of six persons.