The U.S. military is grounding its entire fleet of V-22 Ospreys, a week after an Air Force CV-22 crashed off the coast of Yakushima Island, Japan, and killed eight airmen aboard the aircraft.
Tokyo also grounded its small fleet of 14 tilt-rotor aircraft following the crash last week.
U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command said in a release that Lt. Gen. Tony Bauernfeind, commander of AFSOC, directed an “operational standdown” of the Air Force’s CV-22 fleet “to mitigate risk while the investigation continues” into last week’s crash.
In a separate notice, U.S. Naval Air Systems Command also confirmed grounding the Navy and Marine Corps’ V-22s out of “an abundance of caution” as the CV-22 crash is being investigated. “Preliminary investigation information indicates a potential materiel failure caused the mishap, but the underlying cause of the failure is unknown at this time,” a Navy news release said.
The Air Force Special Operations Command is leading the investigation into last week’s mishap.
At least 400 multipurpose Ospreys are mainly used by the U.S. Air Force, Marines and Navy in Japan and elsewhere, according to Boeing. Japan is the only other country that operates Ospreys.
Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told reporters that Tokyo will seek information from the U.S. side on the the safety of Osprey fleet. “Needless to say, ensuring flight safety is the top priority of aircraft operation,” Matsuno said. “Japanese Self-Defense Force also operates Ospreys, and in order to ensure their flight safety, we will continue to ask the U.S. side to share information with us.”
Osprey safety issues
The Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps took the extraordinary step of grounding hundreds of aircraft after a preliminary investigation of last week’s crash indicated that the crash might be related to materiel failure not a mistake by the crew.
The investigation into the crash in Japan is still ongoing, but the revelation that it could be a mechanical issue has raised questions about the safety of the Osprey.
The Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey, the world’s first successful military tiltrotor, has had a history of operational and mechanical issues. The first Ospreys only became operational in 2007 after decades of testing but the aircraft has been involved in multiple fatal accidents in 34 years of its service.
The first fatalities associated with the Osprey were in July of 1992 when seven Marines were killed. In all, more than 50 service members have died in Osprey crashes with the most recent fatal crash. The aircraft has been involved in a spate of fatal crashes in the last two years, killing several airmen.
- On November 29, 2023, eight Air Force Special Operations Command service members died in a crash off the coast of Japan.
- In August 2023, three U.S. Marines were killed when an Osprey carrying 23 crashed during a military exercise in northern Australia.
- In March 2022, five US Marines were killed when an Osprey crashed during training exercises near Glamis, California.
- In 2022, four US Marines were killed when an Osprey crashed during NATO training exercises in Norway.
Clutch problem in Osprey
In a report released on July 21, the Marine Corps for the first time blamed one of the fatal Osprey crashes on a fleet-wide problem that has been known for years. It’s known as hard clutch engagement (HCE).
In the 2022 crash of a Marine Corps MV-22 in California that killed five Marines, hard clutch engagement created a “catastrophic mechanical failure,” the investigation found. The fire was so intense it destroyed the Osprey’s flight data recorder, which is another issue.
The command investigation, conducted by the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, found that there was nothing these Marines or the Marine maintenance team could have done to prevent the aircraft from crashing in eastern Southern California. “A catastrophic, unpreventable, and unanticipated mechanical failure occurred,” the V-22 joint program office had said.
At least 15 HCEs have occurred in V-22s since 2010, according to the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) accident report.
V-22 Osprey Quick Facts
- The V-22 Osprey is a multi-role combat aircraft utilizing tiltrotor technology to combine the vertical performance of a helicopter with the speed and range of a fixed-wing aircraft. V-22 travels nearly twice as fast as most average helicopters.
- Over 400 of these aircraft, including MV, CV, CMV, and Japan MVvariants, are currently in service.
- First introduced in 2007 after decades of testing, Osprey aircraft have come under scrutiny for being involved in multiple fatal accidents.
- More than 50 service members have died either on Osprey flight tests or training flights.
- V-22 Osprey is in use by the U.S. Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps as well as Japan Ground Self Defense Force.
- Osprey has surpassed more than 700,000 flight hours.
- The Osprey can carry 24 combat troops, or up to 20,000 pounds of internal cargo or 15,000 pounds of external cargo.
- The V-22 is used for a wide range of missions, including medium-range assault, special operations, VIP transport, resupply, disaster relief, search-and-rescue, medical evacuation, and humanitarian missions.
