The U.S. military announced yesterday (Dec. 6) that all V-22 Osprey tiltrotors are grounded as a result of the preliminary investigation into the U.S. Air Force aircraft that crashed off the coast of Japan last week, killing all eight crew members. Investigators found evidence of material failure in the debris recovered from the water.
In conjunction with Japan grounding its 14 Ospreys last week, the U.S. grounding covers some 400 Ospreys operated by the U.S. Marine Corps, 51 U.S. Navy aircraft and 27 Ospreys operated by the USAF Special Operations Command, the branch that suffered last week’s crash. The U.S. and Japan are the only current operators of V-22s in the world.
Lt. Gen. Tony Bauernfeind, who heads up the USAF Special Operations Command, said he instituted the grounding “to mitigate risk while the investigation continues … Preliminary investigation information indicates a potential material failure caused the mishap, but the underlying cause of the failure is unknown at this time.”
The Air Force declined to estimate how long the standdown would last, but said it expected it to remain in force until the cause of the latest crash is determined and corrective measures implemented.
In the 16 years it has been in service, there have been 12 crashes involving V-22s (two in combat situations), as well as several incidents, with a total of 33 fatalities.
