US Navy locates wreckage of missing C-2A plane

MANILA - 7 January 2018: The US Navy has located the wreckage of a transport aircraft that crashed into the Philippine Sea in November, NHK World reported Saturday.

In a statement, the Navy's 7th Fleet says a team of deep water salvage experts detected an emergency beacon from the C-2A Greyhound. The wreckage rests on the seabed at a depth of 5,640 meters.

The salvage team had been searching the area since late December.

The crash occurred on November 22nd while the C-2A was flying from a military base in Iwakuni, in western Japan, to the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan.

Eight of the 11 crew and passengers were recovered. The US Navy and Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force launched a combined search operation over several days, but failed to locate the three missing.

The US 7th fleet says every effort will be made to recover the aircraft and victims despite what it calls very challenging conditions.