Japan has asked the United States military to ground all Osprey aircraft not engaged in emergency recovery operations following a training mission crash involving one of the aircraft.
Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told reporters officials had asked the U.S. military to ground all Osprey flights in the meantime, except those involved in the search and rescue of the missing crew. Japanese defense officials have confirmed that only one U.S. Osprey has joined the rescue operation since the crash.
Senior Japanese Defense Ministry official Taro Yamato recently told a parliamentary hearing that Japan plans to suspend flights of all 14 of its Ospreys for the time being as well. A planned training flight at the Metabaru army camp in the Saga prefecture in southern Japan has been canceled as a result.
According to the U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command, the crashed Osprey was from Yokota Air Base and assigned to the 353rd Special Operations Wing. From what few details are available, the Osprey departed the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni in Yamaguchi prefecture on a training mission.
Ospreys Have a Long List of Accidents
The Osprey is a hybrid aircraft that takes off and lands in the same way as a helicopter. It differs from most aircraft in its ability to swap while in flight to rotate its propellers forward and cruise like a regular aircraft. However, it has long been a controversial capability for the U.S. defense forces owing to its poor safety record and multiple accidents. At least a dozen incidents have seen multiple people killed since the aircraft became operational in 2007.
Last year, Air Force Special Operations Command ordered a temporary stand-down of its Osprey fleet following safety incidents where the clutch slipped, causing an uneven power distribution to the rotors.
