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Search for missing sailors

U.S. and Japanese ships and aircraft are searching in the Philippine Sea for three sailors missing since a U.S. Navy aircraft crashed.

Eight people were rescued about 40 minutes after the crash of the C-2 "Greyhound" transport aircraft Wednesday afternoon, the Navy said. They were taken aboard the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier and were in good condition.

The C-2A twin-propeller plane came down about 925 kilometres southeast of Okinawa as it was bringing passengers and cargo from Japan to the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier, the Navy said in a statement. The cause wasn't clear but the crash would be investigated, the Navy said.

The Reagan was participating in a joint exercise with Japan's Maritime Self-Defence Force when the plane crashed.

The aircraft carrier was leading the search and rescue efforts along with Japan's naval forces. The ships and aircraft had searched more than 320 nautical miles as of Thursday morning, the Navy said.

Japan's Defence Ministry said the crash site is about 150 kilometres northwest of Okinotorishima, a Japanese atoll.

The Navy said it had notified next of kin that the three sailors were "whereabouts unknown" but it would delay releasing their identities publicly for three days due to policy.



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