All news

US suspends use of Osprey tiltrotor aircraft

According to the Associated Press, this decision was made after the crash of one of them in Japan

NEW YORK, December 7. /TASS/. The US Armed Forces suspended the use of the Osprey tiltrotor aircraft after one of these machines crashed on November 29 in Japan, AP reported.

According to the report, the preliminary investigation suggests that the November accident was caused by a hardware malfunction, not a crew error. However, the core cause of the catastrophe has not been determined yet.

It is unclear for how long the Osprey will stay out of service. AP reports, citing the US Air Force, that the suspension will remain in effect until the cause of the crash is investigated and proper instructions are developed on how to bring the aircraft back into service.

A CV-22 Osprey crashed approximately 1 km away from the island of Yakushima. It carried 8 people. According to eyewitnesses, flame burst out of one engine during the fall.

The aircraft suffered numerous incidents during its service. In 2012, two Ospreys crashed in Florida and in Morocco. In 2016, an incident occurred in the Persian Gulf area, killing one Marine. In August of 2017, a tiltrotor aircraft crashed near the Australian coast. On August 27 this year, a V-22 Osprey crashed in northern part of Australia: three US Marines died and five were hospitalized.