A congressional oversight committee has launched an investigation into the V-22 Osprey program following a deadly crash in Japan which killed eight Air Force special operations service members.
The entire Osprey fleet remains grounded following the Nov. 29 crash with the exception of limited Marine Corps flights in emergencies. More than 50 U.S. service members have died in Osprey crashes over the lifespan of the program, and 20 of those died in four crashes over the last 20 months.
The Osprey is a fast-moving airframe that can fly like both a helicopter and an airplane — but its many crashes have led critics to warn it has fatal design flaws.
The government of Japan, the only international partner flying the Osprey, has also grounded its aircraft after the Nov. 29 crash.
I feel like some context in time spent refining new styles of airframes historically might be relevant. Then again, if the issue is actually the design, it seems like 30 years ought to be enough to refine that or give up with current tech. I just wonder if it’s actually a design flaw - we don’t really get media reports about other crashes like this - I guess the closest was the Boeing 737 MAX? I think part of the issue is the numbers of dead are “inflated” relative to say the F35 because of the number of people who would be on the vehicle.
I don’t know the answers to all these, it’s certainly possible that any expert in military aircraft would be saying these are stupid to keep flying. I just feel like the first helicopters probably had similar times of occasional deadly crashes for instance, and yet no one is saying we should stop flying helicopters.