Topline
The U.S. military said Friday its Osprey aircraft are regularly checked for safety, after a crash earlier this week that left one person dead and seven others missing led Japan to ask the United States to ground the aircraft—a request the Pentagon hasn’t followed so far.
Crowd of people waiting in line to tour inside an MV-22B Osprey, Fuji Flightline Festival, Japan, … [+]
Key Facts
Pentagon deputy spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said in a statement shared with Forbes the Ospreys in Japan are only used “after undergoing thorough maintenance and safety checks,” and that the U.S. has “good communications” with Japan and the two countries “are in constant dialogue regarding aviation safety and other safety-related issues.”
Japan “officially” requested the U.S. stop flying its Ospreys in the country this week until they are confirmed to be safe, Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno reportedly said Friday, adding the Japanese government was “concerned that flights are being carried out without sufficient explanation about safety confirmation, despite repeated requests from Japan.”
After the Pentagon confirmed Thursday that Ospreys are still being flown over Japan, Matsuno said the move is “deeply regrettable” and is causing “great anxiety to people” where the aircraft crashed off the coast of the island of Yakushima, according to CBS News.
Japan’s Ground Self-Defense Force has grounded its fleet of Osprey aircraft, according to Bloomberg, and Singh said Osprey flights are suspended in the Air Force unit connected to the crashed plane.
The Air Force said Friday it is still searching for seven crew members from the plane, while one set of remains has already been recovered, CBS News reported.
The V-22 Ospreys are a tiltrotor aircraft with propellers that allow it to take off as a helicopter, then fly as a plane.
Key Background
A U.S.-owned Osprey crashed in the sea off the southern coast of Japan Wednesday, and the Japanese coast guard recovered one body from the site of debris. The United States has about 30 Ospreys in Japan, part of the U.S. military’s large presence in the country, which is a key ally. The tiltrotor aircraft can take off and land like helicopters, but their propellers rotate to allow the craft to fly like planes. In August, three U.S. Marines were killed when an Osprey carrying 23 crew members crashed during an exercise in northern Australia, The Guardian reported. Five Marines died in an Osprey crash last June in California, and four Marines died in a crash in Norway months before in March, according to the Washington Post. After an Osprey crash in Okinawa in December 2016, the Ospreys were reportedly grounded there temporarily.
Further Reading
One Dead After U.S. Military Aircraft Crashes Into Sea Near Japan (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/britneynguyen/2023/12/01/pentagon-defends-osprey-aircraft-after-fatal-crash-as-japan-pushes-for-flight-pause/