The commander of the U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) on Wednesday directed an "operational standdown" of the Air Force CV-22 fleet to mitigate risks as the investigation continues on the CV-22 mishap near Yakushima in Japan on November 29, which killed eight U.S. service members.

"The standdown will provide time and space for a thorough investigation to determine causal factors and recommendations to ensure the Air Force CV-22 fleet returns to flight operations," AFSOC said in a statement.