Military pauses Osprey flights again after more metal failures are found in near crash in November
The Pentagon is temporary pause flights again of its fleet of V-22 Ospreys after weakened metal components may have played a role in another near-crash, the latest setback for a controversial aircraft whose security concerns have increased.
The pause was recommended last week “out of an abundance of caution” by Vice Adm. Carl Chebi, the head of the Naval Air Systems Command, which leads the Osprey program for the military, command spokeswoman Marcia Hart said.
The Marine Corps, Navy and Air Force are adhering to the recommended pause, they all said in a statement to The Associated Press. The Marines said the pause began Friday and would last until Monday. The other services are expected to pause longer as they look into the cause of the metal failures.
An in-depth investigation into the Osprey by The AP The study published last month found that safety problems have increased over the past five years, parts are wearing out faster than expected and the design of the aircraft itself directly contributes to many of the accidents. The Osprey can fly both like a helicopter and an airplane.
Following that report, lawmakers sent a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin asking him to land the Osprey fleet again until solutions can be found to address the safety and design issues identified by the AP.
The latest near-crash, at Cannon Air Force Base in New Mexico on Nov. 20, bore similarities to a crash off the coast of Japan last November that killed eight Air Force Special Operations Command service members.
In the crash in Japan, inclusions (or weakened areas) in the metal used for crucial gears in the Osprey’s transmission led to the gears falling apart in flight and causing the aircraft to fail catastrophically. The crew did not realize the severity of the failure at the time and did not land immediately.
The lessons from that fatal crash in Japan may have saved lives during the latest emergency. Although the investigation is still ongoing, the crew of the Cannon flight received similar warnings shortly after takeoff and lost an engine, but were able to quickly land the Osprey and survive.
An initial assessment of the part that disintegrated at Cannon has found that similar metal weaknesses may have played a role, but in a different part than what failed in the Japan crash.
Based on NAVAIR’s recommendations, Lt. Gen. Michael Conley, AFSOC commander, has instituted a pause on all Osprey training flights, “which gives us time and space to understand what happened,” said Lt. Col. Becky Heyse, spokeswoman for the command, in a statement.
The metal in question is called X-53 VIMVAR. In the crash in Japan, investigators found that the metal gear that failed had multiple inclusions, or microscopic weak spots in the metal, caused by foreign substances mixed during the manufacturing process. These weak spots can lead to fatigue cracks.
After the crash in Japan, researchers reported that there had been seven previous cracking incidents in gears that were likely caused by the same weakness of the metal.
Since then, the Army and Bell Flight, which builds the transmission system and assembles the Osprey at its plant in Amarillo, Texas, have pushed for ways to make that metal stronger.
Since the military began flying the plane 30 years ago, 64 personnel have been killed and 93 injured in crashes. The Japanese military briefly grounded its fleet again in October after an Osprey violently overturned and hit the ground during takeoff.