The U.S. military announced on the 6th that all U.S. military aircraft of this type were grounded during the investigation into the latest crash of the "Osprey" transport aircraft. The U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command said that the exact cause of the crash of an Osprey of the U.S. military stationed in Japan in the waters of Japan on November 29 has yet to be determined. A preliminary investigation shows that the accident may be related to a "material issue." To "reduce risk", all Ospreys were grounded while the investigation was ongoing.
On July 30, 2021, in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, the United States, an "Osprey" tilt-rotor transport aircraft demonstrated its hovering capabilities at the "Flyers Conference". Published by Xinhua News Agency (Photo by Joel Reiner)
U.S. President Joseph Biden confirmed on the 5th that all eight people on board the Osprey that crashed in Japan died. According to Japan's Kyodo News Agency, this is the deadliest accident since the Osprey entered service in 2007. After the incident, Japan grounded the Ospreys equipped by Japan and requested the U.S. military stationed in Japan to ground the aircraft, but the U.S. did not immediately comply.
After the U.S. announced the grounding on the 6th, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroshi Matsuno responded, “Ensuring flight safety is the top priority” and Japan will continue to seek to share information related to the Osprey with the U.S.
This is the "Osprey" transport aircraft stationed at the U.S. Army Futenma Base in Okinawa, Japan on November 25 (file photo). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Feng Wuyong
Japan's Okinawa Prefectural Assembly, Okinawa Prefecture's Nago City and Ginowan City Council respectively passed protest resolutions on the 7th, demanding that the U.S. military ground the "Osprey" deployed at the U.S. military base in Okinawa until the exact cause of the "Osprey" crash was found out and effective measures were taken to prevent similar accidents.
According to the Associated Press, the U.S. military has a total of approximately 480 Ospreys. This tilt-rotor aircraft can take off and land vertically like a helicopter, or fly horizontally at high speeds like a fixed-wing aircraft. The Osprey suffered multiple fatal accidents during its test flights and service, killing more than 50 people so far. In the past 20 months alone, it crashed four times, killing 20 people.