A Bell Boeing CV-22 Osprey of the US Air Force (USAF) has crashed in Japanese waters. On 29 November US Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) said the CV-22B Osprey from the 353rd Special Operations Wing was involved in the mishap.
The aircraft was performing a routine training mission off the shore of Yakushima Island, Japan, with eight airmen on board.
The crash killed at least one crew member and seven others are missing. U.S. forces based in Japan have also been asked to suspend all Osprey flights.
The Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey is an American military tiltrotor aircraft whose history of accidents have provoked concerns about its safety. The aircraft was developed by Bell Helicopter and Boeing Helicopters.
As of November 2023, 16 V-22 Ospreys have been damaged beyond repair in accidents that have killed a total of 55 people.
There have been four crashes in 2022 and 2023.
March 2022
An MV-22B Osprey participating in NATO exercise Cold Response crashed in Gråtådalen, a valley in Beiarn, Norway on 18 March 2022, killing all four Marines onboard. The crew were confirmed dead shortly after Norwegian authorities discovered the crash site. Investigators concluded that the causal factor of the crash was pilot error due to low altitude steep bank angle maneuvers exceeding the aircraft’s normal operating envelope.
June 2022
An MV-22B Osprey belonging to 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing crashed near Glamis, California on 8 June 2022, killing all five Marines onboard. Among the fatalities was Captain John J. Sax, son of the former Major League Baseball player and LA Dodger Steve Sax. The accident investigation determined that the crash was caused by a dual hard clutch engagement causing catastrophic malfunction of the aircraft’s gearbox that lead to drive system failures. From 2010 to the time of the crash, there had been 16 similar clutch issues on Marine Ospreys.
August 2023
An MV-22B Osprey belonging to 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, VMM-363 crashed on Melville Island, Australia on 27 August 2023, killing three Marines. The accident occurred while the aircraft was participating in “Predators Run 2023”, a joint military exercise involving 2,500 personnel from Australia, the United States, Indonesia, the Philippines and Timor-Leste. The aircraft was carrying 23 U.S. Marines, of which three were killed at the crash scene on the large island in the Timor Sea, 60 km north of Darwin, while another five were flown to a hospital in critical condition. The Marine Corps grounded flights for two days. They had three Class-A aviation mishaps ovwe six weeks.”A Class-A mishap is defined by the Naval Safety Command as inflicting property damage worth $2.5 million or more. The marines lost an F18, F35B and an Osprey.
November 2023
A CV-22B Osprey assigned to the US Air Force’s 353rd Special Operations Wing crashed into the East China Sea approximately one kilometer (0.6 mile) off Yakushima Island, Japan on 29 November 2023, killing at least one airman. The Osprey, based at Yokota Air Base in Western Tokyo, was flying from Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni in Yamaguchi Prefecture to Kadena Air Base on Okinawa Island in clear weather and light winds with eight service members aboard at the time of the crash. Witnesses reported seeing the aircraft flying inverted with flames engulfing the aircraft’s left nacelle before an explosion occurred and the aircraft subsequently crashed in waters east of the island near Yakushima Airport.
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Osprey still is less hazardous than other military helicopters generally, and US Marines helicopters specifically.
Sounds like they should have chosen the Skyworks VertiJet fixed wing gyrocopter instead (or perhaps a bigger version for more payload), it’s a less complicated VTOL with 400mph cruise. On the last page of its brochure there is a picture of two them flying with an Osprey in between.
Maybe the next Osprey type aircraft will be more like a drone. 4 engines. Smaller propellers. 2 in the front, 2 in the back, the 2 in the back providing lift forward before the front ones rotate to also provide forward thrust. Although not sure from the reports it’s related to taking off and landing vertically maneuvers. Several clutch incidents.
Why dont those Boeing Aerospace Engineers learn from the common internet people like me. Internet commenters have all the answers. Always. lol