AAR accident with the hose? Nacelles forward so not ship-to-air.
TOKYO (Reuters) - The United States military on Wednesday grounded its tilt-rotor MV-22 Osprey aircraft in Japan after Tokyo called for a halt to flights following a crash southwest of Okinawa island, the first accident involving the aircraft in the Asian nation. The aircraft has become a lightning rod for opposition to the U.S. military presence in Okinawa, with local groups seeking the closure of American bases saying it is prone to crash and poses a danger to residents.
A U.S.-operated Osprey ditched into the sea on Tuesday, injuring its crew of five after a hose connected to the aircraft broke during a refueling exercise. Images of the scene aired by Japan's public broadcaster NHK showed the aircraft broke into several pieces in waters close to the coast.
"No flights in Japan are planned today," said a U.S. Marine Corps spokesman in Okinawa. The U.S. military was still investigating the cause of the crash, which Prime Minister Shinzo Abe described as "regrettable" on Wednesday....... "We regret the accident, but we do not regret the work of our young pilots," Lieutenant General Lawrence D. Nicholson, the USMC commander on Okinawa, told a news briefing on the island broadcast by NHK.