Body of sergeant killed when US Air Force Osprey crashed off the coast of Japan is returning home

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The remains of a U.S. Air Force staff sergeant from Massachusetts, who was one of eight service members lost when a CV-22 Osprey crashed off the coast of Japan, are being returned home.

The body of Jacob “Jake” Galliher, 24, was scheduled to arrive Friday afternoon at Westover Air Force Base in Chicopee for transport in a procession to a funeral home in his hometown of Pittsfield.

Members of the Pittsfield Police and Fire Departments, the Berkshire County Sheriff's Office, the Massachusetts State Police and the Dalton American Legion Riders would escort his body, officials said.

The Osprey crashed on November 29 during a training mission near Yakushima Island in southwestern Japan while en route to Okinawa.

Galliher's remains were the first to be found. Divers recovered the remains of the seventh of the eight crew members last Sunday.

Galliher's family released a statement on December 2 saying they were grieving and asking for privacy and prayers for his wife, two children and other relatives.

“Jacob was an incredible son, brother, husband, father and friend to so many. His short life impacted and improved the lives of hundreds, if not thousands, in Pittsfield, throughout this region and everywhere he served,” the family said. “Jacob lived to serve his family, his country and the people he loved.”

A week after the crash, the U.S. military grounded all its Osprey V-22 aircraft after a preliminary investigation found that something had gone wrong that was not human error.

The US-made Osprey is a hybrid aircraft that takes off and lands like a helicopter, but can turn the propellers forward in flight and cruise much faster, just like an airplane.

The crash raised new questions about the safety of the plane, which was involved in several fatal accidents in the relatively short time it was in service. Japan grounded its fleet of fourteen Ospreys after the crash.