Yet another Osprey crash
In a depressingly familiar story – an Air Force CV-22B Osprey went down off Japan. One confirmed killed, no word on the other 7 on board as of Wednesday afternoon.
The Osprey came down around 3:00 pm local time today, off Yakushima Island, western Japan. That island is located around 45 miles south of the Kagoshima region on the southern main island of Kyushu.
In response to the crash, the Japan Coast Guard (JCG) deployed search-and-rescue vessels and aircraft to the area and at least one U.S. Marine Corps KC-130J also appears to have been involved in this effort. An aerial photo has since been released by the JCG showing what is thought to be a portion of wreckage from the Osprey, which was found at around 4:00 pm local time, in waters southeast of the airport on Yakushima Island. As well as the wreckage, the JCG said it recovered an overturned life raft, but there were no people in it.
While initial reports stated that the Osprey involved was a U.S. Marine Corps MV-22B, Hiroyuki Miyazawa, Japan’s vice defense minister, told Japanese media that the incident involved a CV-22B from the U.S. Air Force. The Air Force’s 21st Special Operations Squadron flies this type from Yokota Air Base.
The single service member recovered so far was taken from the sea “unconscious and was not breathing,” according to the JCG. They were found 1.8 miles from Anbo Port, on the eastern side of Yakushima. They were taken by boat from the Yakushima Town Rescue Center and onward to Anbo Port. Although they received CPR, the unnamed crew member was later pronounced dead. The War Zone
Other reports said that the aircraft contacted Japanese authorities asking permission for an emergency landing at the airport, then 5 minutes away. Witnesses were reported to have said an engine was on fire when the Osprey hit the water.
I guess it’s encouraging that a life-raft was deployed – even if empty, hopefully that seems to indicate a relatively soft landing, but the lack of contact with the other 7 on board isn’t encouraging. Does go to show that no matter what, even the training for war can be hazardous.
Think it is about time someone got serious about addressing the Osprey’s shortcomings. It’s too early to tell if this is another ‘hard clutch’ case.
Category: Air Force, Training Incidents
And remember…
The Blackhawk replacement is a tilt rotor.
They Navy wants to replace the C-2 Greyhound with the Osprey for its COD duty. All you need is one these things going down on a crowded carrier flight deck and the Forrestal fire 2.0.
The Osprey claims more victims. Rest in Peace young warriors.
And the Navy is apparently ignoring the fact that the CMV-22B has to go into HOVER whenever it’s coming aboard the ship during its COD mission. So it’s basically just another fancy helicopter that doesn’t do well in hot/humid conditions when it’s heavy with cargo, and COD aircraft are always heavy with cargo. Aerodynamics are aerodynamics, regardless of how wee-wee’d up the Admirals and Generals are about the MV-22 program. Can’t just wish them away because they’re inconvenient.
Also, the C-2A Greyhound can carry a payload of up to 10,000 pounds. The CMV-22B that will replace it can only carry up to 6000 pounds of cargo. Great choice, Navy. I can see the wisdom in this decision.
New math. Lighter payloads = more fuel efficiency. Global warming activists very happy. Just don’t tell them it requires 2 trips to get done what could have been taken care of with 1 trip.
Butbutbut aren’t they still using the “Green Fuel” they started using during the B. Hussein 0bama years?
Only the second usage of “wee-wee’d up” I’ve ever seen. (And I freaking despised the other user—no offense!)
Last news story I had heard was the one found was deceased, the others still missing.
Fun to ride in, but it was always scary considering their history.
And the USAF wants to decommission the A-10!
Damn it. Here we go again.
Reading multiple articles about this mishap this morning, and several reports have mentioned that a witness saw the aircraft’s left engine on fire, and that the aircraft abruptly rolled inverted and impacted the water. Also discussing this mishap with some USN/USMC Aviator buddies of mine, including one whose son is a USMC MV-22B pilot.
If that witness statement is accurate, it could indicate that the aircraft may have experienced a fuel-fed engine fire in the left engine nacelle that could have quickly led to the catastrophic structural failure of the left engine mount, and/or the left wing and associated control components. Fuel-fed fires can burn through aircraft structures and components extremely quickly. With those heavy engines and propeller assemblies mounted out on the wing tips like they are, if a catastrophic structural failure occurs (e.g., the engine nacelle starts to come away from the wing in flight), the remaining good wing and engine are going to cause the aircraft rapidly roll/yaw toward the damaged wing/engine, which can result in an abrupt departure from controlled flight, such as rolling inverted. A truly horrific situation to be in in a tiltrotor aircraft.
There probably just wasn’t very much that these Airmen could do when they found themselves in extremis. No ejection seats in an Osprey, you can’t autorotate an Osprey, and my buddy says that the pilots and crews don’t routinely wear parachutes.
It’s well past time to park every damn Osprey until the services can finally figure out how to operate these aircraft safely. The Ospreys are now being referred to as “flying coffins”; maybe the answer is to make the “hard call” and banish them to the desert at Davis-Monthan, and then go find a safer aircraft as a replacement.
RIP Airmen.
*Standing applause* Spot on, Mick…you nailed it. I agree 1000% with your comment. Maybe if the ones that designed and built these things had to ride them to work, then maybe they’d fix the damn things…or trash them and move on. 16 crashes and 50+ dead? A good idea aircraft, poorly executed? As long as this program has been around, one would think that the bugs would have been worked out long ago. Pilot error announcement in 5.4.3.2..
Rest In Peace, Gentlemen.
Well put, Mick.
Too bad we can’t force the folks in the 5-sided Puzzle Palace to have to ride these everywhere they go.
May God grant peace and comfort to these warriors’ family and compadres.
News from Japan. Not much, but some.
The Asahi Shimbun: Japan asks U.S. to halt Osprey flights after fatal crash in Kyushu
https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/15070883
Damn, just damn…
Given its track record, you would think the entire DOD-wide fleet of Ospreys would be grounded. Training accidents happen; it takes sweat and sometimes blood in simulated combat to conserve blood in actual combat. That said, unsafe pieces of equipment, especially aircraft, are historically short-lived and quick to be grounded. The Osprey program must be built and supported by companies that are major political donors, with extremely influential backers/lobbyists and promises of high-paying post-retirement jobs for those Generals keeping it in the air.
If I were still in the Corps, and they told me I was heading to an opposed landing aboard an Osprey, I’d tell them; “No, thank you; I’ll walk.”
< MV-22 Osprey Dad.
RIP x 8.
>> Divers have found wreckage, 5 remains from Osprey aircraft that crashed off Japan, US Air Force says
https://www.yahoo.com/news/divers-discovered-wreckage-remains-osprey-092529140.html