Japanese V-22 Ospreys take part in an elephant walk at Camp Kisarazu in Chiba prefecture, Japan, Oct. 5, 2024. (Japan Ground Self-Defense Force)

Three Marines were aboard a Japanese Osprey tiltrotor aircraft when it hit the ground and was damaged during a joint U.S.-Japanese exercise over the weekend.

The Marines were training with Japan Ground Self-Defense Force troops during the ongoing Keen Sword exercise when the incident occurred, U.S. Forces Japan told Stars and Stripes in an unsigned email Tuesday.

The V-22 was attempting to take off from Camp Yonaguni, a Japanese base on a remote island, when its left wing hit the ground during a disaster-response drill Sunday morning, according to a Japan Joint Staff news release that day.

None of the 16 military personnel aboard were injured, a Joint Staff spokesman said Monday.

U.S. Ospreys in Japan “remain mission capable” and will continue to participate in Keen Sword, according to USFJ.

“We do not anticipate any significant impacts to training,” the command’s email states. “The U.S. remains committed to conducting realistic training exercises with our Allies and partners.”

Japan has grounded its fleet of 17 Ospreys as it investigates the incident, the Joint Staff spokesman said. However, Ospreys will carry out “mission flights,” Defense Minister Gen Nakatani said in a news conference Tuesday.

“If a natural disaster occurs, we will decide whether to use the Ospreys or not, but basically, we won’t fly them,” he said.

The Self-Defense Force began its investigation Sunday, Nakatani said.

U.S. and Japanese Ospreys were grounded between December and March following the Nov. 29 crash of an Air Force Special Operations Command tiltrotor just off Yakushima, an island south of Kyushu in southern Japan.

All eight crew members aboard that Osprey were killed. The accident investigation found a catastrophic mechanical failure at fault, compounded by a “lack of urgency” by the crew at the time to deal with an engine problem, according to the accident report.

The revolutionary aircraft lands and takes off like a helicopter but flies as a fixed-wing aircraft.