Details about what happened on the plane have not yet been confirmed (Photo: AFP via Getty Images)

A US military plane with eight people on board crashed into the sea off the coast of southern Japan.

Japan’s coast guard received a distress call today at 2:47 p.m. local time from a fishing boat near the crash site in Yakushima, an island south of Kagoshima on the southern main island of Kyushu.

The plane disappeared from radar at 2:40 p.m. local time, Japanese Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said.

The Osprey aircraft, which can operate as a helicopter and turboprop aircraft, is said to be en route from Iwakuni to Okinawa.

Details about what happened on the plane have not yet been confirmed, but Japanese broadcaster NHK said the Osprey was trying to land at Yakushima airport, adding that the plane was on fire.

A rescue mission is now underway and the Coast Guard is en route to the site for search and rescue operations, Coast Guard spokesman Kazuo Ogawa said.

Patrol boats and aircraft have been deployed to the scene and the status of those on board is unknown.

A spokesperson for US forces in the region said they were still gathering information about the incident.

In August, an Osprey crashed off the coast of northern Australia while transporting troops during a routine military exercise, killing three U.S. Marines.

And in December 2016, there was an emergency landing in the sea off Japan’s southern island of Okinawa, leading to a temporary grounding of the plane by the US military.

The use of the Osprey in Japan is controversial. Critics say the hybrid plane is prone to accidents.

But the US military and Japan say it is safe.

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