All U.S. V-22 Osprey Tiltrotors Grounded Again

All U.S. military V-22 Osprey tiltrotors have “paused” operations in light of a part failure on an Air Force CV-22 during a training mission in New Mexico on Nov. 20. The  Osprey landed safely with no injuries to four crew members. The Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps pause in operations comes just over a year after another Air Force CV-22 crashed in Japan, killing all eight on board. Charles Spirtos, a Navy spokesperson, said, "The operational pause allows us to determine if any additional safety measures are necessary."

Neil Lobeda, a spokesman for Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR), which oversees the Osprey Joint Program Office, told Military.com, "Out of an abundance of caution, NAVAIR recommended an operational pause for all V-22 Osprey variants December 6, 2024. This decision comes following a recent precautionary landing of a CV-22.”

Lt. Col. Rebecca Heyse, an Air Force Special Operations Command spokesperson, said, “A pause in flight training operations allows time and space for us to understand what happened in the most recent event before we accept risk with unknown variables. The incident is under investigation, and initial indications are there was a materiel failure that has not been seen before, leading to the recommendation for an operational pause while analysis is conducted to determine if the current flight restrictions are adequate or additional need to be implemented.”