ASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon believes it has identified the mechanical failure that led to a fatal crash of an Osprey aircraft in Japan and the
grounding of the fleet for two months, a U.S. defense official told The Associated Press.
The Pentagon’s Joint Safety Council is now working with the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps on their plans to get Osprey crews ready to fly again, said Navy Rear Adm. Chris Engdahl, chairman of the council and commander of Naval Safety Command.
The Air Force investigation is continuing into the Nov. 29 Air Force special operations command CV-22 crash, which killed
eight service members. The crash led to a rare grounding on Dec. 6 of about 400 Osprey aircraft across the three services. Japan
also grounded its fleet of 14 Ospreys following the crash.
The official who said the mechanical failure had been identified declined to say what the failure was. It has opened the door to discussions on return to flight because mitigations can be put in place. The official was not authorized to discuss the investigation publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.