Osprey down off Japan

[talmacapt]

I see the beeb is reporting an Osprey has crashed.

Not the first I think.

[CharlieOneSix]

One engine on fire and trying to land at Yakushima Airport. Six on board.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-67563915

[Boac]

Do they have a transverse coupling shaft? If not, asymmetric would be a touch difficult.

[CharlieOneSix]

Yes, there is an interconnecting shaft between the two engines so that both propellers/rotors can be driven by one engine in the event of the other one failing. A similar shaft exists in twin rotor helicopters such as the Chinook.

[PHXPhlyer]

Call it what it is!

The aircraft was involved a "mishap while performing a routine training mission off the shore of Yakushima Island," the Air Force said.

“In light of this incident, the minister of defense has asked the relevant departments to cooperate with the Japan Coast Guard to confirm whether or not there are any victims and to do their utmost to rescue them,” Hiroyuki Miyazawa, Japan’s vice defense minister, told local reporters.

Asked why he’d not called the incident a crash, Miyazawa said: “The U.S. side explained to us that the pilot did his best until the very end, so we’re using the term ‘emergency water landing.’”

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/us-m ... rcna127129

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[PHXPhlyer]

Japan suspends Osprey flights after fatal U.S. Air Force crash
U.S. forces in Japan have also been asked to ground the aircraft after a U.S. Air Force Osprey crashed off the Japanese coast, leaving one dead and seven missing.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/japa ... rcna127333

TOKYO — Japan is grounding flights of its Osprey military aircraft, officials said Thursday, a day after an Osprey plane belonging to the U.S. Air Force crashed off the Japanese coast, killing at least one crew member and leaving seven others missing.

With the exception of the ongoing search-and-rescue mission, U.S. forces based in Japan have also been asked to suspend all Osprey flights until “they have confirmed the flight-related safety of these aircrafts,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno, the Japanese government’s top spokesperson, told a news conference.

Osprey flights by Japanese forces will be suspended “until the circumstances surrounding the accident become clear,” Matsuno said, adding that search-and-rescue efforts by Japanese forces had continued through the night.

The U.S. Osprey was on a routine training mission Wednesday when it crashed into the ocean near Yakushima, an island about 45 miles south of the Kagoshima region on the southern main island of Kyushu. An unidentified crew member was pronounced dead after being found near the accident site unconscious and not breathing.

The crew member’s body was handed over to U.S. military personnel on Thursday, Japanese officials said.

Japan plans to suspend its own Osprey flights after a U.S. Air Force Osprey based in Japan crashed into waters off the southern coast during a training mission, officials said Thursday.
A Japanese coast guard helicopter and patrol vessel conduct a search and rescue operation on Thursday after a U.S. Air Force Osprey crashed off the coast of Yakushima.AP
The cause of the crash and the status of the other crew members remain unknown.

Rahm Emanuel, the U.S. ambassador to Japan, said Thursday that the focus was on search-and-rescue efforts.

“I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the Japanese Coast Guard, Japanese Self-Defense Forces, and local community and fishermen who are assisting in the search for the crew,” he said in a post on the social media platform X.

In addition to searches by patrol boats and aircraft, the Japanese Coast Guard is searching underwater for the missing crew members using a device called “side scan sonar” that is towed by a patrol boat and captures images of the ocean floor where the aircraft might have sunk.

“Currently there are no new leads,” the 10th Regional Coast Guard Headquarters in Kagoshima Prefecture said in a statement Thursday.

The CV-22B Osprey is based at Yokota Air Base and assigned to the 353rd Special Operations Wing, according to the Air Force Special Operations Command.

The Osprey is an American hybrid aircraft that takes off, lands and hovers like a helicopter, but during flight can rotate its propellers to achieve a much higher speed during flight like a conventional airplane.

The planes have been involved in a number of accidents in recent years including in Japan, where they are used at Japanese and U.S. military bases, raising safety concerns. In August, an Osprey with 23 U.S. Marines on board crashed in Australia during a routine training exercise, killing the pilot and two others.

Japan became the first foreign country to own and operate the aircraft in 2020.

After the U.S. Osprey crash was reported Wednesday afternoon, the Japanese Coast Guard immediately deployed patrol vessels and aircraft to the scene. Rescuers found “wreckage-like debris” and an overturned life raft, the coast guard said, but no people inside it.

PP

[PHXPhlyer]

Juan's report



PP

[Boac]

Holy Moses! That is a handful to put it mildly. At least the Av8 (Harrier) had a bang seat. It seems that a major engineering re-work is needed to beef up the various components with, I guess, a grounding.

Those crews did their best, it seems.

[PHXPhlyer]

5 bodies found in the wreckage of a U.S. military aircraft that crashed off Japan
The Osprey CV-22B aircraft was carrying eight crew members when it crashed last week near the island of Yakushima.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/bodi ... rcna127866

TOKYO — A search team investigating the deadly crash of a U.S. military aircraft in the sea off Japan last week has found wreckage and the remains of five missing crew members, the Air Force said Monday morning.

The Osprey CV-22B "tiltrotor" aircraft was carrying eight crew members when it crashed on Nov. 29 near the island of Yakushima.

The Air Force Special Operations Command said in a statement just after 4 a.m. ET on Monday that a U.S.-Japanese team of divers had found “remains” and wreckage. In an update at 6 a.m. ET, the Air Force confirmed that it had found the fuselage of the craft and five bodies. Divers had retrieved two of the bodies and were working to retrieve the rest of the crew, it said.

None of those whose remains were found on Monday have been identified so far.


"The coalition of military, coast guard, law enforcement, mariners, and local volunteers remain steadfast in locating and bringing the US Service Members back to their units and their families," the statement said.

The Japanese Coast Guard said last week that one person was recovered unconscious from the water and was later confirmed dead. Monday's updates mean that two crew members remain unaccounted for.

“The main priority is bringing the Airmen home and taking care of their family members. Support to, and the privacy of, the families and loved ones impacted by this incident remains AFSOC’s top priority,” the statement said.

Police in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, named the deceased airman recovered last week as as Staff Sgt. Jacob “Jake” Galliher, a 24-year-old father of two.

Japan Osprey rescue
US military personnel have been searching for the missing crew members onboard the aircraft that crashed last week.AFP - Getty Images
Japanese and American military divers have spotted what could be the remains of a U.S. Air Force Osprey aircraft that crashed last week off southwestern Japan and several of the six crewmembers who are still missing, local media reported Monday.(Kyodo News via AP)
Members of the Japanese Coast Guard carry debris believed to be from the crashed U.S. military Osprey aircraft, at a port in Yakushima, Japan on Monday.AP
The CV-22B Osprey — a hybrid helicopter-plane that takes off vertically but tilts its rotors 90 degrees forward once airborne — was taking part in a training exercise when it crashed off Yakushima, an island off the Kagoshima region on the southern main island of Kyushu.

It is latest in a string of deadly incidents involving U.S. military Osprey aircraft and not the first accident in Japan.

Japan expressed concern over the continued use of the craft on Friday and grounded its own fleet of Ospreys. Later that day the Pentagon said it would stop flying them from the Yokota Air Base, but U.S. Ospreys are flying in the rest of the region.

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[PHXPhlyer]

Air Force identifies all airmen in crashed Osprey and officially declares them deceased

https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/05/politics ... index.html

The Air Force on Tuesday officially said all eight airmen who were aboard the CV-22 Osprey died after it crashed last week off the coast of Yakushima Island, Japan, as they transition from search and rescue operations to search and recovery.

“The recovery operation will now focus on locating and recovering all remains and aircraft debris. Of the eight Airmen, the remains of three Airmen have been recovered, the remains of another three Airmen have been located and are in the process of being recovered, and the remains of two Airmen are still being located,” Air Force Special Operations Command said in a statement on Tuesday.

The transition to search and recovery comes after days of “intensive, 24/7 search and rescue operations,” according to the AFSOC, and occurs “when the determination is made that survivors are unlikely.”

The Air Force identified one airman who was recovered over the weekend as Staff Sgt. Jake Galliher, a 24-year-old direct support operator from Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Galliher was assigned to the 43rd Intelligence Squadron, Detachment 1, Operating Location – Alpha, 363rd Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Wing based out of Yokota Air Base, Japan.

The status of the remaining seven airmen was changed from duty status-whereabouts unknown, or DUSTWUN, to deceased, according to AFSOC. On Tuesday, the Air Force identified all seven remaining airmen.

They are:

• US Air Force Maj. Jeffrey T. Hoernemann, 32, of Andover, Minnesota, a CV-22 instructor pilot and officer in charge of training, assigned to the 21st Special Operations Squadron, 353rd Special Operations Wing, Yokota Air Base, Japan.
• US Air Force Maj. Eric V. Spendlove, 36, of St. George, Utah, a residency trained flight surgeon and medical operations flight commander assigned to the 1st Special Operations Squadron, 353rd Special Operations Wing, Kadena Air Base, Japan.
• US Air Force Maj. Luke A. Unrath, 34, of Riverside, California, a CV-22 pilot and flight commander assigned to the 21st Special Operations Squadron, 353rd Special Operations Wing, Yokota Air Base, Japan.
• US Air Force Capt. Terrell K. Brayman, 32, of Pittsford, New York, a CV-22 pilot and flight commander assigned to the 21st Special Operations Squadron, 353rd Special Operations Wing, Yokota Air Base, Japan.
• USA ir Force Tech. Sgt. Zachary E. Lavoy, 33, of Oviedo, Florida, a medical operations flight chief assigned to the 1st Special Operations Squadron, 353rd Special Operations Wing, Kadena Air Base, Japan.
• US Air Force Staff Sgt. Jake M. Turnage, 25, of Kennesaw, Georgia, a flight engineer assigned to the 21st Special Operations Squadron, 353rd Special Operations Wing, Yokota Air Base, Japan.
• US Air Force Senior Airman Brian K. Johnson, 32, of Reynoldsburg, Ohio, a flight engineer assigned to the 21st Special Operations Squadron, 353rd Special Operations Wing, Yokota Air Base, Japan.

Lt. Gen. Tony Bauernfeind, commander of Air Force Special Operations Command, said Tuesday that in “times like these, where service to our nation is not just a personal commitment but also a legacy woven into the fabric of our families, the depth of sorrow is immeasurable.”

“The honorable service of these eight Airmen to this great nation will never be forgotten,” Bauernfeind said, “as they are now among the giants who shape our history.”

The units continuing search and recovery operations are the Japan Coast Guard; Japan Self-Defense Forces; US Pacifc Air Forces; US Pacific Fleet; US Marine Corps Forces, Pacific; Special Operations Command-Pacific; 353rd Special Operations Wing, Kadena Air Base, Japan; 18th Wing, Kadena Air Base, Japan; and 1st Special Forces Group.

“On behalf of all of the joint U.S. teammates actively involved in the search, we want to extend our sincere gratitude to the Government of Japan’s Self Defense Force, Coast Guard, law enforcement, mariners, and local Yakushima civilian volunteers for their tireless assistance in the search and rescue operations for our airmen,” Rear Adm. Jeromy Williams, Special Operations Command - Pacific commander, said in Tuesday’s release.

“We are resolved to locating our aircrew and bringing them home to their families,” Williams said.

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[PHXPhlyer]

US military grounds entire fleet of Osprey aircraft following a deadly crash off the coast of Japan
The crash raised new questions about the safety of the Osprey, which has been involved in multiple fatal accidents over its relatively short time in service.

https://www.12news.com/article/news/nat ... da11ab0106

WASHINGTON — The military announced late Wednesday it was grounding all of its Osprey V-22 helicopters, one week after eight Air Force Special Operations Command service members died in a crash off the coast of Japan.

The Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps took the extraordinary step of grounding hundreds of aircraft after a preliminary investigation of last week's crash indicated that a materiel failure — that something went wrong with the aircraft — and not a mistake by the crew led to the deaths.

The crash raised new questions about the safety of the Osprey, which has been involved in multiple fatal accidents over its relatively short time in service. Japan grounded its fleet of 14 Ospreys after the crash.

Lt. Gen. Tony Bauernfeind, head of Air Force Special Operations Command, directed the standdown “to mitigate risk while the investigation continues," the command said in a statement. “Preliminary investigation information indicates a potential materiel failure caused the mishap, but the underlying cause of the failure is unknown at this time.”

In a separate notice, Naval Air Systems Command said it was grounding all Ospreys. The command is responsible for the Marine Corps and Navy variants of the aircraft.

The Air Force said it was unknown how long the aircraft would be grounded. It said the standdown was expected to remain in place until the investigation has determined the cause of the Japan crash and made recommendations to allow the fleet to return to operations.

The U.S.-made Osprey is a hybrid aircraft that takes off and lands like a helicopter but can rotate its propellers forward and cruise much faster, like an airplane, during flight. Air Force Special Operations Command has 51 Ospreys, the U.S. Marine Corps flies more than 400 and U.S. Navy operates 27.

The Osprey is still a relatively young plane in the military’s fleet — the first Ospreys only became operational in 2007 after decades of testing. But more than 50 troops have died either flight testing the Osprey or conducting training flights in the aircraft, including 20 deaths in four crashes over the past 20 months.

An Osprey accident in August in Australia killed three Marines. That accident also is still under investigation.

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[PHXPhlyer]

Investigators are looking at the gearbox in deadly U.S. Air Force Osprey crash
The accident, in which a U.S. Air Force V-22 Osprey crashed into the ocean off Japan, killing eight airmen, was the fourth fatal crash of the unique tiltrotor aircraft in less than two years.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/in ... rcna139500

The investigation into yet another deadly crash of a U.S. military Osprey aircraft in late November is looking at a possible mishap involving the aircraft’s propeller rotor gear box, U.S. officials familiar with the preliminary findings say.

The accident, in which a U.S. Air Force V-22 Osprey crashed into the ocean off Japan, killing eight airmen, was the fourth fatal crash of the unique tiltrotor aircraft in less than two years. Twenty U.S. service members have died in the incidents, leading to a rare grounding in December of all Osprey aircraft by all branches of the U.S. military.

The cause of the crash off Japan is still under investigation and has not been established, according to those familiar with the investigation.

Air Force Special Operations Command spokesperson told NBC News the command had no new information to provide at this time.

Ospreys can take off vertically like helicopters, but then tilt their two rotors to fly like dual propeller planes. The military has about 400 Ospreys that are used by the Navy, Marines and Air Force, though most are flown by the Marine Corps.

In the past the Ospreys sometimes had a problem called a "hard clutch engagement," which in one June 2022 incident caused a crash that killed five Marines. In February 2023 the military said while they had still not determined a root cause for the hard clutch incidents, officials were 99% sure the clutch problem was fixed. The military’s joint program office for the aircraft told NBC News that the last of the 19 hard clutch engagements reported by all three service branches occurred in January 2023.

The Pentagon’s joint program office said in a statement that military leaders are working to provide service members “with the safest, most reliable aircraft possible. … The safety and well-being of our personnel and the reliability of the V-22 continues to be a priority in our discussions as we determine our return to flight plan.”

While it was first believed that the Osprey grounding could last as long as a year, it’s now expected that the aircraft may return to flight soon, possibly within weeks, according to multiple military officials.

Metal chips in the gear boxes
An NBC News review of Osprey mishap and hazard data from the Navy and Marines, however, shows other incidents involving the propeller rotor gear boxes. Since July 2022, there have been at least seven instances of metal chips found in the gear boxes, though no fatalities have resulted.

“One would hope that that’s being examined really hard,” said retired military crash investigator Tom Farrier. “The question that it raises to me is — is there a linkage between the chip detections and the problems with the clutch? That’s where I would expect the Marines and the Navy to be expending a lot of resources for study.”

Each of the twin rotors has its own gear box. The gear box is as large as a motorcycle and serves a function similar to a car’s transmission. The box has magnets inside it that detect loose metal chips as small as a fingernail. Once they are detected, a warning indication is sent to the pilot, according to aviation experts.

Marine pilots are instructed that at the first indication of a metal chip in the gear box they need to land as soon as feasible, according to the pocket checklist for pilots. If there is a secondary indication of a metal chip, then pilots are instructed to land immediately no matter where they are, according to the checklist and incident reports.

One hazard report from Oct. 5, 2022 in Hawaii where chips were found in a Marine Osprey gearbox noted, “This event is further evidence that [Osprey] gearboxes are not performing to service life expectations and that more needs to be done to understand why [Osprey] proprotor gearboxes are experiencing chips.”

In another hazard report from Hawaii in June 2023, Marine records show that a warning light came on in an Osprey cockpit twice for chips in the prop rotor gear box “in rapid succession.” The report says the aircraft was shut down and chips were discovered in the gear box. The report notes, “No clear reason why chips occur other than old gearboxes.”

Five months later, another Marine report from Hawaii shows that a chip warning light came on while the aircraft was between the islands of Maui and Lanai. There was no secondary indication of a metal chip so the Osprey continued to Maui and landed. After some maintenance, the aircraft was “sent back up for a confidence flight” and the metal chip light came on again. After this, the entire gearbox was “deemed bad,” requiring replacement, according to the Marine data.

The report’s narrative notes, “V-22 [prop rotor gear boxes] are known to chip out but there is not a standard reason for why or how often. By submitting these reports we can track frequency of events.”

One prop rotor gear box chip incident in a Marine aircraft from November 2022 is still under investigation, according to the data.

Detailed mishap data from the Air Force was not available in time for publication.

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[llondel]

In February 2023 the military said while they had still not determined a root cause for the hard clutch incidents, officials were 99% sure the clutch problem was fixed.

If you don't understand the root cause then it will come back to bite you. The 737 rudder hard-over issue was like this too, until they figured out why, it was always going to happen again.

[G-CPTN]

At one stage my career as a vehicle design engineer morphed into investigation of 'failures'.

I realised that determining a cure relied on first investigating the cause rather than fixing the problem.

The company protocol dictated that these incidents were referred to as 'concerns'.

The ability to reproduce the exact failure was important and essential before the case could be considered closed.

[Boac]

According to the media, the Osprey ban will shortly be lifted.

[OFSO]

Walnut shells used for gearbox 'cleaning' after machining, brought down a Chinook during my time in Germany, I Recall.

[PHXPhlyer]

Military clears Ospreys to fly again after a series of fatal crashes
Navy officials say they have identified a part that failed in a November crash that killed eight service members, but will not yet announce the finding publicly.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/mili ... rcna142107

The U.S. military said Friday that despite a series of fatal crashes, it has deemed the V-22 Osprey aircraft safe to fly and has lifted the order that had kept most of the military's fleet of about 400 Ospreys grounded.

Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) ordered the entire Osprey fleet grounded more than three months ago, following the fatal Nov. 29 crash of an Air Force CV-22 Osprey off the coast of Japan that killed eight Special Operations airmen. It was the fourth fatal crash of the unique twin tiltrotor aircraft in less than two years, in which 20 U.S. service members have been killed.

The crash remains under investigation, but last month NBC News reported that investigators have zeroed in on a failure in the aircraft’s proprotor gearbox.

While officials from NAVAIR say that the crash was likely due to a material failure and they have identified the part that failed, they will not yet announce the finding publicly or disclose the timeline of events that led to the crash. During a media briefing earlier this week, officials acknowledged they are not certain why the part failed.

Col. Brian Taylor, the program manager for the V-22 Joint Program Office, which oversees Osprey use by all service branches, said that this is the first time the office has seen this particular component fail, calling it “unprecedented.”

But military officials said they are confident they can mitigate the failure by implementing new procedural changes. Pentagon officials say there will be operational limitations on the aircraft to enhance safety but details on the limitations were not disclosed.

In a statement, NAVAIR said the decision to return to flight "follows a meticulous and data-driven approach prioritizing the safety of our aircrew.”

Some families of service members who died in the crashes remain skeptical of returning the aircraft to flight when the military does not know why the Osprey crashed in Japan.

The Government Accountability Office and members of Congress have been investigating the Osprey program. In a statement, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., said, “The House Oversight Committee has yet to receive adequate information requested from DOD as part of our ongoing investigation launched months ago into the safety and performance of the Osprey aircraft. Serious concerns remain, such as accountability measures put in place to prevent crashes, a general lack of transparency, how maintenance and operational upkeep is prioritized, and how DOD assesses risks.”

As the military continues to investigate, the services will take a phased approach to return to flight, each with varying timelines before all of their aircraft are back in the air.

Ospreys are flown by the Marines, the Navy and the Air Force. The great majority belong to the Marine Corps, which uses them for three-quarters of its movement of troops and equipment during operations.

The Marine Corps is calling its approach to return to flight “crawl, walk, run.” It will happen in three phases, beginning with “extensive maintenance checks” and refresher training for pilot instructors for the first 30 days. The entire return to flight plan should be complete in late spring or early summer, according to a Marine Corps statement.

PP