Washington DC [US], December 7 (ANI): The US army can be grounding its whole fleet of V-22 Ospreys, every week after the crash incident in Japan resulted within the deaths of all eight aboard, CNN reported.
Air Force Special Operations Command mentioned in a launch on Wednesday night that Lt Gen Tony Bauernfeind, commander of Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC), directed an “operational standdown” of the Air Force’s CV-22 fleet “to mitigate risk while the investigation continues” into final week’s crash.
Naval Air Systems Command additionally mentioned that it was grounding the Navy and Marine Corps V-22s out of “an abundance of caution” because the CV-22 crash is investigated.
“Preliminary investigation information indicates a potential material failure caused the mishap, but the underlying cause of the failure is unknown at this time,” CNN quoted a Navy news launch as stating.
Meanwhile, instantly after final week’s crash, the federal government of Okinawa Prefecture in Japan requested that every one Ospreys on the island chain be grounded. The Pentagon, nevertheless, mentioned it had not acquired an official request to floor the Ospreys.
“I’m not tracking an official request received here at the department,” deputy Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh mentioned final week. “I’ve seen some of the comments that you just referenced. Right now, the Ospreys are still operating in Japan.”Singh added that there’s a “true commitment to safety” within the Pentagon “when it comes to any airmen operating any aircraft.””If the investigation concludes that there need to be additional steps taken, we’ll … certainly do that, but at this time, the investigation is underway on what happened,” CNN quoted her saying.
The Osprey was conducting a “routine training mission” on the time of the crash, AFSOC mentioned, which continues to be beneath investigation.
The plane has had a historical past of operational and mechanical points, although, and has been concerned in a number of deadly incidents over the past 30 years. Just months in the past, in August, three US Marines have been killed in an MV-22 Osprey throughout a army train in Australia, in keeping with CNN.
Earlier in March 2022, 4 US service members have been killed in an MV-22 crash throughout a NATO coaching train. Just a few months later, 5 Marines died in a coaching mission crash in California.
Variants of the V-22 Osprey are utilized by a number of companies — the MV-22 utilized by the Marines, CV-22 utilized by the Air Force, and CMV-22 utilized by the Navy – in addition to Japan’s Ground Self Defense Force, which makes use of the Japan MV-22, CNN reported.
“With its rotors in a vertical position, it can take off, land and hover like a helicopter. Once airborne, it can convert to a turboprop aeroplane capable of high-speed, high-altitude flight,” Boeing’s V-22 data web page says. “This combination results in global reach capabilities that allow the V-22 to fill an operational niche unlike any other aircraft.” (ANI)