Divers have discovered wreckage and the remains of five crew members from a US Air Force Osprey aircraft that crashed off south-western Japan last week, the American military says. 

The CV-22 Osprey carrying eight American personnel crashed off Yakushima island during a training mission last Wednesday.

The body of one victim was recovered and identified earlier.

The Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) said two of the five newly located remains had been recovered but their identities were yet to be determined.

The joint US-Japanese search operation to recover the remains of three other crew members from the wreckage was still underway, it said.

The search is also continuing for the two people who are still missing. 

“The main priority is bringing the Airmen home and taking care of their family members,” it said in a statement.

“Support to, and the privacy of, the families and loved ones impacted by this incident remains AFSOC’s top priority.”

The US military identified the one confirmed victim as US Air Force Staff Sergeant Jacob Galliher of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, on Saturday.

Japanese coast guard officials say the ocean is about 30 metres deep around the crash site.

The US-made Osprey is a hybrid aircraft that takes off and lands like a helicopter but can rotate its propellers forward and cruise much faster, like an airplane, during flight.

A history of issues

Ospreys have had a number of crashes, including in Japan, where they are used at US and Japanese military bases, and the latest accident has rekindled safety concerns.

Japan has suspended all flights of its own fleet of 14 Ospreys.

Japanese officials say they have asked the US military to resume Osprey flights only after ensuring their safety.

However, the Pentagon said no such formal request had been made and the US military was continuing to fly 24 MV-22s, the Marine version of Ospreys, deployed on the southern Japanese island of Okinawa.

On Sunday, pieces of wreckage that Japan’s coast guard and local fishing boats had collected were handed over to the US military for examination, coast guard officials said.

Japan’s military said debris it had collected would also be handed over to the US.

Coast guard officials said the recovered pieces of wreckage include some parts of the aircraft and an inflatable life raft, but nothing related to the cause of the crash, such as an engine.

Local witnesses reported seeing fire coming from one of the engines.

Local fishing boats have helped in the search efforts, giving up their daily catch.

Public broadcaster NHK said the defence ministry plans to cover their lost income and fuel.

Under the Japan-US Status of Forces Agreement, Japanese authorities are not given the right to seize or investigate US military property unless the US decides otherwise.

As a result, it will be practically impossible for Japan to independently investigate the cause of the accident.

The agreement has often made Japanese investigations difficult in criminal cases involving American service members on Okinawa and elsewhere.

It has been criticised as unequal by rights activists and others, including Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki, who has called for a revision.

AP