US Navy plane carrying 11 crashes in the Philippine sea en route to aircraft carrier

U.S. Navy

A C-2 Greyhound.

• A US Navy plane carrying 11 crashed near Okinawa en route to the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier.
• This is the latest in a string of deadly crashes for the US Navy's Pacific fleet.
• The plane that crashed was a C-2 Greyhound.

A US Navy plane carrying 11 passengers crashed into the sea southeast of Okinawa, while it was en route to the USS Ronald Reagan, the US's forward-deployed aircraft carrier, on Wednesday.

The accident marks the latest in a string of deadly crashes involving the US Navy's Pacific or 7th fleet. The other crashes have involved the guided missile destroyers the USS Fitzgerald, USS John McCain, and a non-deadly crash involving the USS Benfold.

"Personnel recovery is underway and their condition will be evaluated by USS Ronald Reagan medical staff," the Navy said in a statement.

The downed aircraft, a C-2 Greyhound logistics plane that moves people, mail, and cargo onto the aircraft carriers, suffered engine troubles, a Japanese defense ministry spokesperson told Reuters.

The Greyhound has served with the navy for more than five decades. It will be phased out in favor of tilt-rotor V-22 Ospreys in the near future.

The Navy has withheld the names of those involved in the crash pending next of kin notifications.