Democratic lawmakers from Massachusetts have urged US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to ground the entire fleet of Bell Boeing V-22 Ospreys until persistent safety issues are resolved.
The lawmakers are also pushing for the Department of Defense (DoD) to release the Safety Investigation Board’s report, which contains findings and recommendations to address the V-22’s challenges.
The V-22 Osprey, a joint service multirole combat aircraft that uses tiltrotor technology, combining the vertical performance of a helicopter with the speed and range of a fixed-wing aircraft.
In an open letter, the lawmakers cited the Associated Press report about increase in incidents involving the vehicle over the last five years, despite a reduction in the number of hours flown.
In January 2024, Subcommittee on Personnel chair and US Senator Elizabeth Warren secured commitments at the DoD, to ensure transparency and integrity to protect service members' safety.
Following scrutiny and training, the US Marine Corps in April greenlit the return of MV-22 Ospreys, prioritising safety and mission readiness.
In June, the Subcommittee on National Security, the Border, and Foreign Affairs held a hearing titled ‘Addressing Oversight and Safety Concerns in the Department of Defense’s V-22 Osprey Programme.’
Members discussed how DoD officials have obstructed congressional efforts to investigate the string of Osprey crashes involving US servicemembers.
The DoD has repeatedly grounded the Osprey, causing billions of dollars in aerial assets to be unavailable.
Two safety reports from Air Force investigations into the fatal crash in November 2023 in Japan that claimed the lives of eight servicemembers, found the accident resulted from ‘a long list of institutional and manufacturing issues’.
It called for an overhaul of the aircraft's airworthiness process.
The public report by the Accident Investigation Board partly blames the crew for not heeding warning lights, although pilots have reported these lights as ‘considered common’ and ‘just part of the vehicle’s operation.’
The AIB report, along with an internal Safety Investigation Board report, confirms that programme failures were responsible for the crash, and the military had been aware of these failures for years.
Both reports indicate that the November 2023 crash was due to ‘fracturing of a single gear… which caused other failures in the proprotor gearbox.’
Lawmakers are also concerned that the Air Force may be increasing safety risks by requiring certain maintainers to sign non-disclosure agreements for information about crashes and incidents.
“Failing to share that information with Congress harms congressional oversight and our ability to help protect service members from future mishaps and accidents,” the lawmakers added.
