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A congressional oversight committee has launched an investigation into the U.S. army’s Osprey plane program following a lethal crash in Japan final month which killed eight Air Pressure particular operations service members.
The lean-rotor airplane – which may fly like a helicopter and a fixed-wing plane — has been besieged by issues over its 30-year historical past with greater than 50 U.S. service members dying in crashes involving the Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey. Twenty of these died in 4 separate crashes during the last 20 months.
Your entire Osprey fleet stays grounded following the Nov. 29 crash, apart from restricted Marine Corps flights in emergencies, and on Thursday Home Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., despatched a letter to Protection Secretary Lloyd Austin requesting a large quantity of documentation on the Osprey’s security document to be delivered to the committee by Jan. 4.
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A U.S. Marine Corps MV-22 Osprey throughout take-off and touchdown observe on the flight deck of HMAS Adelaide within the Whitsunday Islands off the coast of Australia on Aug. 7, 2023. Congress is investigating the U.S. army’s Osprey plane program following a sequence of deadly crashes. (SGT Andrew Sleeman/Royal Australian Navy by way of AP)
“The Committee stays involved about security and efficiency points surrounding the Osprey program,” the letter reads.
“Additional concern is warranted as a result of the Division of Protection (DoD) grounded its total fleet of Ospreys to mitigate dangers. It’s essential for the security of our servicemembers to make sure transparency, accountability, and a radical understanding of the steps DoD is taking to mitigate any additional mechanical dangers.”
The Committee has requested a tranche of paperwork and communications together with security information, upkeep information, coaching protocols in addition to a listing of incidents and accidents involving the Osprey plane.
The letter additionally requests efficiency evaluations, modifications or upgrades made to enhance efficiency, any unbiased evaluation or assessment performed by a 3rd celebration since 2009 in DoD’s possession, in addition to the prices related to the Osprey program and the DoD’s future plans for this system.
The letter, citing the Division of Protection Inspector Basic, states that the Osprey has been plagued with decreased visibility and engine failure, whereas there have additionally been a number of Osprey crashes resulting from defective gearboxes.
Comer’s letter praised the plane’s capabilities, noting that the plane can carry 24 fight troops twice as quick and 5 occasions farther than earlier helicopters, however nonetheless raised considerations about its security.
A U.S. army CV-22 Osprey takes off from Iwakuni base, Yamaguchi prefecture, in western Japan, on July 4, 2018. The lean-rotor airplane has been besieged by issues over its 30-year historical past with greater than 50 U.S. service members dying in crashes. (Kyodo Information by way of AP)
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“Over 9 years of makes an attempt to revamp the U.S. Navy’s model of the plane to stop engine failure, crash casualties proceed.”
The letter states that whereas the Osprey will not be thought of as harmful as another army plane, the Committee “stays alarmed that the majority fatalities involving the plane have occurred throughout coaching workout routines, not fight operations.”
He additionally raised the plane’s financial profit to the economic system, using over 27,000 folks throughout 44 states, but in addition raised questions as to why a lot cash has been invested into it.
“Every unit price roughly $120 million to acquire, and DoD has bought over 450 Ospreys, spending billions of {dollars} in sustainment, operations, and upkeep. The Committee is eager to know the rationale behind such a major expenditure and the way DoD balances these prices whereas guaranteeing army capabilities and readiness.”
Shortly after the Nov. 29 crash, the Air Pressure mentioned {that a} malfunction of the plane, not a mistake by the crew, was in all probability the trigger. If so, will probably be the second recognized deadly crash attributable to a mechanical drawback with the plane in a 12 months. Three U.S. Marines had been killed in August when an Osprey crashed off the coast of northern Australia throughout a routine train transporting troops.
On this picture offered by Japan Coast Guard, particles believed to be from a U.S. army Osprey plane is seen off the coast of Yakushima Island in Kagoshima Prefecture in Japan Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2023. Eight Air Pressure particular operations service members died within the incident. (Japan Coast Guard by way of AP)
Moreover, in June 2022, an Osprey crashed in California killing all 5 Marines onboard, whereas in March 2022, an Osprey collaborating in a NATO train in Norway crashed killing all 4 Marines onboard.
One other crash landed within the ocean off Okinawa in December 2016, which prompted a short-term grounding of the plane.
All three variations of the Osprey, the Marine Corps’ MV-22; the Air Pressure’s CV-22 and the Navy’s CMV-22 applications are overseen by the Pentagon’s Osprey Joint Program Workplace. The plane turned operational in 2007 and has gone via a number of redesigns.
The Osprey has confronted persistent questions on a mechanical drawback with the clutch that has troubled this system for greater than a decade. There have additionally been questions as as to whether all components of the Osprey have been manufactured based on security specs and, as these components age, whether or not they stay sturdy sufficient to face up to the numerous forces created by the Osprey’s distinctive construction and dynamics of tilt-rotor flight.
MV-22B Osprey touchdown on the flight deck of the Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7) on April 30, 2018. Congress is investigating the U.S. army’s Osprey plane program following a sequence of deadly crashes. In complete, greater than 50 service members have died touring within the plane. (Smith Assortment/Gado/Getty Photographs)
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The federal government of Japan, the one worldwide accomplice flying the Osprey,has additionally grounded its plane after the Nov. 29 crash.
In the meantime, on Friday, Senators Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren, and Rep. Richard Neal additionally introduced they had been urgent Austin for solutions on the Osprey’s security document. The three lawmakers, all Massachusetts Democrats, signify the house state of Employees Sgt. Jacob Galliher, one of many eight Air Pressure particular operations service members killed within the Japan crash.
The Related Press contributed to this report.
Michael Dorgan is a author for Fox Information Digital and Fox Enterprise.
You may ship tricks to [email protected] and observe him on Twitter @M_Dorgan.
