Washington: The safety of U.S. service members and Japanese communities is “a top priority” for the United States, a Defense Department official said Friday, after a U.S. Osprey military transport aircraft recently crashed off a Japanese island.

Sabrina Singh, deputy press secretary at the Pentagon, showed the stance in a statement, apparently to alleviate growing concern in Japan in the wake of the accident.

An Air Force CV-22 Osprey carrying eight crew members crashed off the island of Yakushima in Kagoshima Prefecture, southwestern Japan, on Wednesday.

“The unit of the CV-22 that had the accident is not conducting flight operations,” the statement said.

All other Ospreys in Japan “operate only after undergoing thorough maintenance and safety checks,” it added, seeking understanding for continued Osprey flights in the country.

“We have already started sharing information about the accident with our Japanese partners and have pledged to continue to do so in a timely and transparent manner,” the statement said.

In a separate statement released Friday, the Air Force said that the U.S. side is continuing search and rescue operations for seven missing crew members of the crashed Osprey in cooperation with the Japanese public and private sectors.

JIJI Press