Japan suspends all Osprey flights after deadly crash of US Air Force aircraft

Japanese officials in Tokyo have announced they have suspended the use of Osprey aircraft after a U.S. aircraft crashed Wednesday, killing at least one crew member.

Tokyo also asked the U.S. military not to fly Ospreys deployed in Japan until "their safety is confirmed," except to join the ongoing search and rescue operations at the crash site, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokzu Matsuno told reporters. One U.S. Osprey has joined the rescue operation since the crash, Japanese defense officials said.

Ministry officials said a planned training flight Thursday at the Metabaru army camp in the Saga prefecture in southern Japan was also canceled as part of the grounding of all 14 Japanese-owned Ospreys deployed at Japan's Ground Self-Defense Force bases.