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The inquiry comes after a lethal crash in Japan that killed eight Air Drive particular operations service members, together with one from Pittsfield.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A congressional oversight committee has launched an investigation into the V-22 Osprey program following a lethal crash in Japan that killed eight Air Drive particular operations service members.
The complete Osprey fleet stays grounded following the Nov. 29 crash, except restricted Marine Corps flights in emergencies. Greater than 50 U.S. service members have died in Osprey crashes over the lifespan of this system, and 20 of these died in 4 crashes over the past 20 months.
The Osprey is a fast-moving airframe that may fly like each a helicopter and an airplane — however its many crashes have led critics to warn it has deadly design flaws.
The federal government of Japan, the one worldwide accomplice flying the Osprey, has additionally grounded its plane after the Nov. 29 crash.
On Thursday, the U.S. Home of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Accountability despatched a letter to Protection Secretary Lloyd Austin requesting a large quantity of documentation on the Osprey’s security file to be delivered to the committee by Jan. 4.
“Our servicemembers stay in hurt’s means with out decision of identified mechanical points,” wrote the committee chairman, Kentucky Republican James Comer. “Whereas, statistically, the Osprey is just not thought of as harmful as another navy plane, the Committee stays alarmed that almost all fatalities involving the plane have occurred throughout coaching workouts, not fight operations.”
On Friday, Senators Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Richard Neal, all Massachusetts Democrats, additionally introduced they had been urgent Austin for solutions on the Osprey’s security file. The three lawmakers characterize the house state of Workers Sgt. Jacob Galliher, one of many eight Air Drive particular operations service members killed within the Japan crash.
“We urge the Protection Division, and the Departments of the Air Drive and the Navy to make sure that the V-22 Osprey is protected to fly earlier than permitting servicemembers from throughout the Commonwealth and america again on board,” the lawmakers wrote.
The Osprey solely grew to become operational in 2007 after many years of testing. Since then, it’s turn into a workhorse for the Marine Corps and Air Drive Particular Operations Command, and was within the means of being adopted by the Navy to switch its C-2 Greyhound propeller planes, which transport personnel on and off plane carriers at sea.
Shortly after the Nov. 29 crash, the Air Drive stated {that a} malfunction of the plane, not a mistake by the crew, was most likely the trigger. If it’s the case, will probably be the second identified deadly crash brought on by a mechanical drawback with the plane in a 12 months.
The Osprey is produced by way of a partnership between Bell Textron and Boeing. Each firms have declined to debate the newest crash, however have stated they may work with the navy nonetheless wanted to assist the investigation.
All three variations of the Osprey, the Marine Corps’ MV-22; the Air Drive’s CV-22 and the Navy’s CMV-22 applications are overseen by the Pentagon’s Osprey Joint Program Workplace.
The Joint Program workplace stated in a press release to the Related Press that its engineering crew has been built-in into the Air Drive Particular Operations Command investigation crew wanting on the Japan crash, and “sharing as a lot info as doable with out compromising the continued investigation to discover a path ahead for the V-22.”
The Osprey has confronted persistent questions on a mechanical drawback with the clutch that has troubled this system for greater than a decade. There even have been questions as as to whether all components of the Osprey have been manufactured in accordance with security specs and, as these components age, whether or not they stay robust sufficient to face up to the numerous forces created by the Osprey’s distinctive construction and dynamics of tiltrotor flight.
Marine Corps Ospreys even have been used to move White Home employees, press and safety personnel accompanying the president. White Home Nationwide Safety Council spokesman John Kirby stated these Ospreys are additionally grounded.
