AURORA, Colo., Air Force still is not sure when it might resume flying the CV-22 Osprey, more than two months after an Osprey crash that killed eight special operations airmen off the coast of Japan spurred the U.S. military to ground hundreds of the tiltrotor aircraft.
Air Force investigators are continuing to probe the Nov. 29 crash in parallel with a comprehensive review of whether the service’s Osprey force is properly trained and equipped to fly safely, Air Force Special Operations Command boss Lt. Gen. Tony Bauernfeind told reporters at the Air and Space Forces Association’s Air Warfare Symposium Tuesday. The U.S. military grounded its fleet of around 400 Ospreys — about 50 of which belong to the Air Force — on Dec. 6 as the mishap investigation got underway. Japan also stopped flying its own 14 Ospreys after the accident.
The tiltrotor aircraft is known for its towering nacelles that allow it to launch and land like a helicopter, and speed forward like a fixed-wing plane. Air Force special operations units use the CV-22 to navigate into and out of areas where fixed-wing planes may not be able to land with troops and supplies. Each Osprey can carry about three dozen troops or 10,000 pounds of cargo. While it remains unclear what downed the American CV-22 in November, the Air Force has said that an aircraft malfunction — not a mistake by the crew — likely caused the crash. Four fatal Osprey crashes, including the latest mishap, have claimed the lives of 20 American troops since March 2022. It also marked the first fatal incident involving an Air Force-owned CV-22 since 2010, and the service’s deadliest accident since 2018, when nine Puerto Rico Air National Guard troops died in a WC-130 weather reconnaissance plane crash.
Navy Rear Adm. Chris Engdahl, chairman of the Joint Safety Council and head of Naval Safety Command, told the Associated Press that commanders across the services may need to gather input on how long troops would need to spend in simulators to get ready to fly again, and what maintenance each Osprey needs before resuming operations. The Air Force announced Jan. 11 it had called off the weekslong, multinational search effort that recovered all but one of the Osprey’s downed crew members. The service held a memorial for the fallen airmen earlier this month at Kadena Air Base, Japan, where two of the Osprey’s crew members were assigned.
