The U.S. military’s controversial V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft won’t resume full flight operations until at least mid-2025 after the entire fleet was grounded last year following four crashes in the last two years that killed 20 service members, Defense Department officials told lawmakers at a hearing on Wednesday.
The most recent incident occurred in November 2023 when a V-22 Osprey assigned to Air Force Special Operations Command went down near an island off the coast of southern Japan. The crash killed all eight service members aboard.
Air Force leaders established a safety investigation board and provided the findings to Navy Vice Adm. Carl Chebi, the head of the U.S. Naval Air Systems Command. His office oversees the military’s V-22 fleet across the services.
“The platform had experienced a catastrophic material failure that we had never seen before in the V-22 program. I made the decision to ground all V-22s until we understood the failure mode and could safely return the aircraft to flight,” Adm. Chebi told the members of the House Oversight Committee’s subcommittee that deals with national security matters.
Admiral Chebi said crashes killed 64 service members over the lifespan of the V-22 program, while another 93 were injured. The V-22 Osprey returned to flight status in March but in a restricted role as the investigation continues, officials said.
“We are methodically looking at the material and non-material changes we can make to allow for a full mission set without controls in place,” Admiral Chebi said. “I will not certify the V-22 to return to unrestricted flight operations until I am satisfied we have sufficiently addressed the issues that may affect the safety of the aircraft.”
The distinctive V-22 can take off like a helicopter but fly like an airplane, and the Marines and Air Force Special Operations Command consider the Osprey a vital asset in combat. The Navy is eyeing it as a replacement for the C-2 Greyhound that ferries cargo and personnel to aircraft carriers.
Subcommittee Chairman Glenn Grothman, a Wisconsin Republican, called the Osprey a “revolutionary” aircraft, but added,”As with any ambitious defense program, it has encountered substantial hurdles, and tragically, has been linked to numerous fatalities.”
The craft, he grimly noted, has earned the nickname “Widow-maker.”
Naval Air Systems Command, known as NAVAIR, launched a comprehensive review of the Osprey’s personnel, training, and equipment, a process Adm Chebi said could last up to nine months.
The Osprey’s clutch assembly is under intense scrutiny as a possible cause for at least some of the deadly crashes. In a fraction of a second, a clutch can slip and surge power to the opposite engine, throwing the Osprey into an uncontrolled slide or possibly resulting in a complete loss of power.
Navy officials said they have recorded 19 such “hard-clutch” incidents in the life of the V-22 program.“The first control we put in place was to modify aircrew procedures so they would be in a safe environment should such a hard clutch event occur,” Admiral Chebi said.
But Mr. Grothman said Navy officials have known of the clutch problem at least since 2010, telling Adm. Chebi, “The recent fatal crash and ongoing investigations suggest that more transparency and rigorous testing is needed to verify these claims.”
Safety investigators determined that the V-22 clutch assembly wears down over time, resulting in a higher susceptibility for slipping. Based on that data, Admiral Chebi ordered the replacement of any clutch with more than 800 flight hours on the safety log.
Wednesday’s hearing wasn’t the first time the V-22 Osprey program has faced lawmaker scrutiny. Congress held a hearing about the program in 2009, Mr. Grothman noted. “It is a shame that here we are, over a decade later, trying to understand these issues once again in light of even more crashes and loss of life,” he said.
The most recent incident occurred in November 2023 when a V-22 Osprey assigned to Air Force Special Operations Command went down near an island off the coast of southern Japan. The crash killed all eight service members aboard.
Air Force leaders established a safety investigation board and provided the findings to Navy Vice Admiral Carl Chebi, the head of the U.S. Naval Air Systems Command. His office oversees the military’s V-22 fleet across the services.
“The platform had experienced a catastrophic material failure that we had never seen before in the V-22 program. I made the decision to ground all V-22s until we understood the failure mode and could safely return the aircraft to flight,” Adm. Chebi told the members of the House Oversight Committee’s subcommittee that deals with national security matters.
Admiral Chebi said crashes killed 64 service members over the lifespan of the V-22 program, while another 93 were injured. The V-22 Osprey returned to flight status in March but in a restricted role as the investigation continues, officials said.
“We are methodically looking at the material and non-material changes we can make to allow for a full mission set without controls in place,” Admiral Chebi said. “I will not certify the V-22 to return to unrestricted flight operations until I am satisfied we have sufficiently addressed the issues that may affect the safety of the aircraft.”
The distinctive V-22 can take off like a helicopter but fly like an airplane, and the Marines and Air Force Special Operations Command consider the Osprey a vital asset in combat. The Navy is eyeing it as a replacement for the C-2 Greyhound that ferries cargo and personnel to aircraft carriers.
Subcommittee Chairman Glenn Grothman, a Wisconsin Republican, called the Osprey a “revolutionary” aircraft but added, “As with any ambitious defense program, it has encountered substantial hurdles, and tragically, has been linked to numerous fatalities.”
The craft, he grimly noted, has earned the nickname “Widow-maker.”
Naval Air Systems Command, known as NAVAIR, launched a comprehensive review of the Osprey’s personnel, training, and equipment, a process Adm Chebi said could last up to nine months.
The Osprey’s clutch assembly is under intense scrutiny as a possible cause for at least some of the deadly crashes. In a fraction of a second, a clutch can slip and surge power to the opposite engine, throwing the Osprey into an uncontrolled slide or possibly resulting in a complete loss of power.
Navy officials said they have recorded 19 such “hard-clutch” incidents in the life of the V-22 program.“The first control we put in place was to modify aircrew procedures so they would be in a safe environment should such a hard clutch event occur,” Admiral Chebi said.
But Mr. Grothman said Navy officials have known of the clutch problem at least since 2010, telling Adm. Chebi, “The recent fatal crash and ongoing investigations suggest that more transparency and rigorous testing is needed to verify these claims.”
Safety investigators determined that the V-22 clutch assembly wears down over time, resulting in a higher susceptibility for slipping. Based on that data, Admiral Chebi ordered the replacement of any clutch with more than 800 flight hours on the safety log.
Wednesday’s hearing wasn’t the first time the V-22 Osprey program has faced lawmaker scrutiny. Congress held a hearing about the program in 2009, Mr. Grothman noted. “It is a shame that here we are, over a decade later, trying to understand these issues once again in light of even more crashes and loss of life,” he said.
• Mike Glenn can be reached at mglenn@washingtontimes.com.
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