An Upstate New York native is among eight service members who were killed when a U.S. military aircraft crashed off the coast of Japan last week.
Air Force Special Operations Command said Tuesday it has identified the eight people who died Nov. 29 when a CV-22B Osprey crashed during a training mission. Six of their remains have been located, while the Air Force said it has shifted its operations from a search-and-rescue mission to search and recovery as it’s unlikely the other two survived.
“The depth of sorrow is immeasurable,” Lt. Gen. Tony Bauernfeind, who heads Air Force Special Operations Command, said in a statement. “The honorable service of these eight airmen to this great nation will never be forgotten, as they are now among the giants who shape our history.”
Among those airmen was U.S. Air Force Capt. Terrell K. Brayman, 32, of Pittsford, N.Y. He was a CV-22 pilot and flight commander assigned to the 21st Special Operations Squadron, 353rd Special Operations Wing, Yokota Air Base, Japan.
The other seven lost crew members were identified as: U.S. Air Force Maj. Jeffrey T. Hoernemann, 32, of Andover, Minnesota; U.S. Air Force Maj. Eric V. Spendlove, 36, of St. George, Utah; U.S. Air Force Maj. Luke A. Unrath, 34, of Riverside, California; U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Zachary E. Lavoy, 33, of Oviedo, Florida; U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Jake M. Turnage, 25, of Kennesaw, Georgia; U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Brian K. Johnson, 32, of Reynoldsburg, Ohio; and U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Jacob “Jake” M. Galliher, 24, of Pittsfield, Mass.
President Joe Biden said he and first lady Jill Biden were heartbroken by the loss.
“We owe them everything,” Biden said in a statement. “Jill and I are praying for the families and friends who lost a loved one in this terrible accident.”
According to the Associated Press, the U.S.-made Osprey is a hybrid aircraft that takes off and lands like a helicopter but can rotate its propellers forward and cruise much faster, like an airplane, during flight. Japan said it has suspended all flights of its own fleet of Ospreys, citing safety concerns, while the U.S. military is continuing to fly 24 MV-22s, the Marine version of Ospreys, deployed on the southern Japanese island of Okinawa.
On Sunday, pieces of wreckage that Japan’s coast guard and local fishing boats have collected were handed over to the U.S. military for examination, coast guard officials said. Japan’s military said debris it has collected would also be handed over to the U.S.