Tokyo – A Marine refueling plane and a fighter jet crashed into the Pacific Ocean off Japan’s southwestern coast after a midair collision early Thursday, and rescuers found one of the seven crew members in stable condition while searching for the others, officials said. The statement said the aircraft involved had taken off from U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni in Yamaguchi Prefecture, and had been “conducting regularly scheduled training.” The Iwakuni base is home to the sole forward-deployed marine squadron of F-35 stealth fighter jets. The two planes -- an F-18 fighter and a C-130 tanker -- were involved in a "mishap about 200 miles off of the coast of Japan around 2:00 am" according to a statement from the US Marines in Japan. The Maritime Self-Defense Force, which dispatched aircraft and vessels to join in the search operation, said Japanese rescuers found one of the crew members in stable condition. A U.S. Navy P-8A patrol and surveillance aircraft was helping in search and rescue efforts along with Japanese authorities, the Marine Corps said, adding that the incident was under investigation. The planes, a KC-130 extended-range tanker carrying five crew members and an F/A-18 combat jet carrying two, "came in contact in the air" and crashed into the sea at around 1:42 a.m. Thursday (11:42 a.m. Accidents involving U.S. military aircraft have become a sensitive topic in Japan in recent years after a spate of crashes — especially in Okinawa Prefecture, which is home to the bulk of U.S. military facilities in the country. In November last year, a U.S. C-2 cargo plane carrying 11 passengers and supplies from the base at Iwakuni to the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan crashed during an annual bilateral maritime field-training exercise with the MSDF. The US military has about 50,000 troops stationed in Japan and accidents are not uncommon.
Two U.S. Marine aircraft from Iwakuni air base crash off the coast of Shikoku, Japan, during a mid-air refueling. One serviceman is rescued by Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force, while one is found dead and five are still reported missing.