US Navy locates the wreckage of missing C-2A plane

The U.S. Navy has located the wreckage of a transport aircraft that crashed into the Philippine Sea in November, NHK World reported Jan. 6.

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In a statement, the Navy's 7th Fleet says a team of deepwater 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.

Matthew Chialastri, Steven Combs, and Bryan Grosso (l to r) were killed in the C-2A Greyhound crash on Nov 22. Lt. Steven Combs, the pilot of the aircraft, is credited with saving the lives of the 8 surviving passengers.  (Images from U.S. Navy)

The crash occurred on Nov. 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 U.S. Navy and Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force launched a combined search operation over several days, but failed to locate the three missing.

Read More: Navy pilot lost in C-2 crash 'flew the hell out of that airplane'

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