Tokyo temporarily grounds its Ospreys, urges U.S. military to follow suit

Japan’s government said Thursday that it has temporarily grounded its fleet of tilt-rotor V-22 Osprey aircraft following Wednesday’s crash of a U.S. Air Force CV-22B model Osprey off the coast of Japan that has resulted in at least one death and seven other crewmembers still missing. 

Tokyo also appealed to the U.S. military based in the country to suspend Osprey flights in the region other than those being used in the search effort for the missing hybrid aircraft that can take off and land like a helicopter but fly like an airplane.

“The occurrence of such an accident causes great anxiety to the people of the region,” Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara said Thursday to the country’s parliament. “We are requesting the U.S. side to conduct flights of Ospreys deployed to Japan after these flights are confirmed to be safe.”

The CV-22B Osprey that crashed Wednesday was assigned to the 353rd Special Operations Wing and based at Yokota Air Base, about 25 miles west of Tokyo. The Air Force said the cause of the crash remains under investigation. Military aviation experts said it could take up to a year to find out what happened, but the crash comes on the heels of a string of fatal accidents for the military in recent years.

On Thursday, U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel said he was praying for the crew’s safe return as the ongoing search and rescue mission continues.

“I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the Japanese Coast Guard, the Japanese Self-Defense Forces, and the local community and fishermen who are assisting in the search,” he said in a post on social media. “The strength of an alliance is not judged when things are going well. It depends on how we support each other in times of adversity.”

The water at the crash site is believed to be at least 100 feet deep. Search teams are using sonar equipment to help locate missing crewmembers, officials said. The body of the Osprey crew member who was recovered has been handed over to U.S. military officials, Japanese authorities said.

The Osprey left the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station on Wednesday at Iwakuni around 2:15 p.m. local time. It was heading for the U.S. Air Force’s Kadena Air Base in Onikawa along with two other tilt-rotor aircraft, the local NHK news network said, citing Japanese defense officials.

The Osprey has been plagued by mechanical problems for years, with more than 50 people being killed in dozens of crashes. Most recently, a Marine Corps V-22 model crashed in August during a training operation in Australia, killing three U.S. Marines.

The hybrid V-22 was developed by Boeing and Bell Helicopter. Osprey variants are flown by the Marine Corps, the Air Force, and the Navy, which recently began using them to help resupply aircraft carriers.