Japan Grounds USMC MV-22s
Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
Thread Starter
Japan Grounds USMC MV-22s
Alert 5 » Japan asks U.S. to suspend MV-22 flights - Military Aviation News
Japan’s Defense Minister Tomomi Inada told reporters that she has asked the U.S. military to suspend flights of the MV-22 after one went down in waters off Okinawa on Dec. 13.
Japan’s Defense Minister Tomomi Inada told reporters that she has asked the U.S. military to suspend flights of the MV-22 after one went down in waters off Okinawa on Dec. 13.
Glad the crew got out. The starboard nacelle looks like it is the forward position (aircraft mode) and I can just make out a shattered prop-rotor underneath the graphic.
Last edited by sandiego89; 14th Dec 2016 at 12:23.
Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
Thread Starter
AAR accident with the hose? Nacelles forward so not ship-to-air.
TOKYO (Reuters) - The United States military on Wednesday grounded its tilt-rotor MV-22 Osprey aircraft in Japan after Tokyo called for a halt to flights following a crash southwest of Okinawa island, the first accident involving the aircraft in the Asian nation. The aircraft has become a lightning rod for opposition to the U.S. military presence in Okinawa, with local groups seeking the closure of American bases saying it is prone to crash and poses a danger to residents.
A U.S.-operated Osprey ditched into the sea on Tuesday, injuring its crew of five after a hose connected to the aircraft broke during a refueling exercise. Images of the scene aired by Japan's public broadcaster NHK showed the aircraft broke into several pieces in waters close to the coast.
"No flights in Japan are planned today," said a U.S. Marine Corps spokesman in Okinawa. The U.S. military was still investigating the cause of the crash, which Prime Minister Shinzo Abe described as "regrettable" on Wednesday....... "We regret the accident, but we do not regret the work of our young pilots," Lieutenant General Lawrence D. Nicholson, the USMC commander on Okinawa, told a news briefing on the island broadcast by NHK.
TOKYO (Reuters) - The United States military on Wednesday grounded its tilt-rotor MV-22 Osprey aircraft in Japan after Tokyo called for a halt to flights following a crash southwest of Okinawa island, the first accident involving the aircraft in the Asian nation. The aircraft has become a lightning rod for opposition to the U.S. military presence in Okinawa, with local groups seeking the closure of American bases saying it is prone to crash and poses a danger to residents.
A U.S.-operated Osprey ditched into the sea on Tuesday, injuring its crew of five after a hose connected to the aircraft broke during a refueling exercise. Images of the scene aired by Japan's public broadcaster NHK showed the aircraft broke into several pieces in waters close to the coast.
"No flights in Japan are planned today," said a U.S. Marine Corps spokesman in Okinawa. The U.S. military was still investigating the cause of the crash, which Prime Minister Shinzo Abe described as "regrettable" on Wednesday....... "We regret the accident, but we do not regret the work of our young pilots," Lieutenant General Lawrence D. Nicholson, the USMC commander on Okinawa, told a news briefing on the island broadcast by NHK.
And this right after the Japanese protested about the Osprey being based in Japan because it "crashes so often". Awkward.
As for still being based in Japan faced with increasing hostile locals, the US military does tend to act like Irish relatives - they visit you and never leave.
As for still being based in Japan faced with increasing hostile locals, the US military does tend to act like Irish relatives - they visit you and never leave.
At first it would seem to be a cast-iron pilot error. It is, however, unusual for a pilot to overrun the hose to that extent. It could be that the clutch failed on the HDU allowing the hose to run out uncontrolled and unstable.
Maybe it is nothing to do with the MV-22
Maybe it is nothing to do with the MV-22
Latest is aircraft was shaking as it would with damaged blades. Pilot elected to ditch rather than overflying populated area to reach base. I am sure that means nothing to the Okinawans. So no fault with aircraft or design.
The Sultan
The Sultan
Will be interesting to see the survival factors within the investigation if it was a ditching with the nacelles in aircraft mode. Wiki lists a 110 knot stall speed in airplane mode.
So I presume there is a KC-130 that came home with a shortened hose....
So I presume there is a KC-130 that came home with a shortened hose....
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Australia OZ
Age: 75
Posts: 2,575
Likes: 0
Received 51 Likes
on
45 Posts
"...Lt. Gen. Lawrence Nicholson said in a press conference today that the rotorcraft was conducting aerial refueling operations over the sea when the rotor blades struck the refueling line, damaging the aircraft.
“After the aircraft was unhooking, it was shaking violently,” Nicholson said of the Osprey from Marine Aircraft Group 36, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing...."
“After the aircraft was unhooking, it was shaking violently,” Nicholson said of the Osprey from Marine Aircraft Group 36, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing...."
USMC Press Conference Video: https://www.dvidshub.net/video/50012...-conference-sb
So in the aftermath two crticisms have been put to bed
1. The mv22 can be successfully ditched in aeroplane mode
2. Such a landing is survivable
Remarkable skills in recovery surely merit some positive comments on airmanship?
1. The mv22 can be successfully ditched in aeroplane mode
2. Such a landing is survivable
Remarkable skills in recovery surely merit some positive comments on airmanship?
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Australia OZ
Age: 75
Posts: 2,575
Likes: 0
Received 51 Likes
on
45 Posts
In the USNI article above this is what the good USMC Generale said:
"...Still, during the press conference he praised the crew’s decision to put the aircraft in the water instead of risk lives onshore. “I’m very proud of our young pilot, I’m very proud of the decision he made not to try to get to Futenma, not to try to get to Kadena, but to try to get to shore and try to land as close to the beach as possible,” he said. "An incredible decision under very very difficult circumstances.”..."
Dagenham: So in the aftermath two crticisms have been put to bed
1. The mv22 can be successfully ditched in aeroplane mode
2. Such a landing is survivable
Remarkable skills in recovery surely merit some positive comments on airmanship?
1. The mv22 can be successfully ditched in aeroplane mode
2. Such a landing is survivable
Remarkable skills in recovery surely merit some positive comments on airmanship?
Indeed. Much has been written about the lack of autorotation and fears about a conventional forced landing- good to perhaps see some of that has been answered.
Join Date: May 2016
Location: USA
Posts: 2
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Crashing into a residential house would be one the worst outcomes. Ditching the aircraft and bending some metal with everyone surviving is a far preferable outcome.
The Marine aviators are heroes for avoiding civilian casualties, no matter what the root cause
