Air Force Special Operations Command grounds Osprey fleet
Sixteen service members have been killed in three Osprey crashes in the Air Force and Marine Corps since June 2022.
Air Force Special Operations Command said it was grounding its fleet of CV-22 Ospreys in the wake of a crash that killed eight crew members Nov. 29.
The bodies of six of the crew have been recovered from the crash off the coast of Japan. The other two aboard are presumed dead.
The crash was the third fatal mishap for the twin-rotor, vertical takeoff aircraft in just over a year, including two involving Marine Corps Ospreys.
“Lt. Gen. Tony Bauernfeind, AFSOC Commander, directed an operational standdown of the Air Force CV-22 fleet December 6, 2023 to mitigate risk while the investigation continues on the November 29, 2023 CV-22 mishap near Yakushima, Japan,” said a statement released by the Air Force. “Preliminary investigation information indicates a potential materiel failure caused the mishap, but the underlying cause of the failure is unknown at this time.”
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