Minnesota native Maj. Jeffrey Hoernemann among crew missing after Osprey crash near Japan
WASHINGTON — A Minnesotan is among the servicemembers who are missing after last week's Osprey aircraft crash off the coast of Japan.
CBS News reports 32-year-old United States Air Force Maj. Jeffrey T. Hoernemann, of Andover, Minnesota, is one of the eight crew members unaccounted for following the crash on Nov. 29.
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Hoernemann's family released this statement Tuesday: "Our hearts are shattered along with families of the other crew members, and we mourn their loss as well. They were all the best of the best."
Divers with the U.S. military and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force found much of the Osprey's fuselage Monday near Yakushima, which is about 600 miles northeast of its destination: Kadena Air Base on Okinawa.
Divers found the bodies of five crew members in the fuselage. It is not clear if Hoernemann was among those crew members.
"I am deeply saddened by the loss of eight American troops in a tragic aircraft crash off the coast of Japan," Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement Tuesday.
Austin promised a rigorous investigation of the incident, adding, "The United States is grateful to Japan's Coast Guard, Self-Defense forces, and local communities – including fishermen – for their search and rescue efforts."
The search and rescue efforts included air, surface and subsurface searches of the water and coastlines in the vicinity of Yakushima, the U.S. military said. The Japan Coast Guard said it had deployed side-scan sonar to scour the seabed for evidence of the ill-fated Osprey.
