Last Updated Nov 22, 2017 3:35 AM EST
A United States Navy aircraft with 11 crew members and passengers on board crashed into the ocean southeast of Okinawa, Japan, on Wednesday, the U.S. Seventh Fleet said in a statement.
The aircraft was headed to the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier, which is deployed to the Philippine Sea.
The carrier is conducting search and rescue operations, the Seventh Fleet said in it’s statement.
Japanese Minister of Defence Itsunori Onodera told reporters that U.S. Navy officials had informed him the crash could be the result of engine problems. The U.S. Navy said earlier that the cause of the crash was unclear.
Japan’s NHK news agency said eight people were rescued, but there was no immediate word on their condition.
NHK says the aircraft was a U.S. Navy C-2 transport plane.
The names of the crew and passengers were being withheld pending notification of next of kin.
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