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Osprey down off Japan, body sighted

Quote:

A US military aircraft with six people on board has crashed off Yakushima Island in south-western Japan, local officials say.

Japan's Coast Guard said one person had been found dead near the crash site of the CV-22 Osprey hybrid plane.

It posted photos of what is believed to be the plane's wreckage off Yakushima.

Japan's NHK broadcaster said the plane's left engine was on fire as it was trying to land at Yakushima Airport on Wednesday.

An eyewitness told local TV that the plane was circling, before exploding and crashing into the sea.

The aircraft was thought to be heading from Iwakuni base in the Yamaguchi region to Kadena base in Okinawa.

Japan's defence ministry said the aircraft disappeared from the radar at 14:40 local time (05:40 GMT) on Wednesday.

The Coast Guard received a distress call seven minutes later, saying the plane had crashed.

It then sent six boats and two helicopters to the scene. At 16:00, the helicopters spotted what looked like a part of the plane and a life raft, a spokesperson told the BBC.

Earlier reports said eight people were on board the aircraft, but that number was later revised down by the coast guard.
Japanese media said the CV-22 Osprey was trying to land at Yakushima Airport when it crashedYakushima, in Kagoshima prefecture, is located south of Japan's Kyushu island.

The Osprey is an aircraft that can function as a helicopter and a turboprop aircraft.

More than 50,000 US troops are stationed across Japan.

Some people living on the island of Okinawa, where the aircraft was headed, had previously voiced concerns about the safety of Osprey planes.

The aircraft has been involved in a string of fatal crashes over the years.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-67563915

For what it’s worth I just watched the interview and the local bloke said the left engine (which was on fire) exploded with a ‘bang’ and he witnessed the propellor spinning off and away as the aircraft went down.

Including this accident, 15 crashes, 54 fatalities (so far).

How many more are required before the Yanks do something about this?

Quote:

Originally Posted by junior.VH-LFA (Post 11547989)

Including this accident, 15 crashes, 54 fatalities (so far).
How many more are required before the Yanks do something about this?

I suggest that you use the search function on this very sub forum to find the discussion on mishaps per 100,000 hours. Your response is idiotic.

I went to the epitome of aviation safety reporting and found this list summarizing V=22 accidents.

(Note: This is just door step info and not official or very informative)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accide...he_V-22_Osprey

The V-22 accident rate is in the 3>4 per 100,000 flying hours range - so less than the F-35, AV-8B, F/A-18 Super Hornet variants, CH-53G and UH-60

https://ig.space/commslink/v-22-ospr...ial-reputation

The accident machine is now reported as a USAF - and therefore spec ops - CV-22B operating from Yokota Air Base.

The eye witness reported an engine fire and propeller loss - so obviously absolutely nothing you can do under those circumstances with that type of aircraft..

Quote:

Originally Posted by RAFEngO74to09 (Post 11548256)

Seems a novel / unusual failure mode. I had not heard of that one before this. Will be interested to see what the official report finds.

What is the survival rate v accident rate of the Osprey? I would imagine it's a particularly difficult aircraft to deal with or abandon due to it's unusual configuration.

For the six souls who would appear to have lost their lives - RIP. Condolences to their families.

Wednesday November 29 2023, 5.00pm, The Times

(Fumio Kishida, the Japanese prime minister, ordered US forces in the area to suspend flights after the V-22 Osprey plunged into the sea.

Witnesses on the island of Yakushima described how the aircraft approached the local airport, apparently planning an emergency landing, but flipped over and crashed into the sea with its left engine on fire.

“It suddenly turned over through 180 degrees, as if it was flying on its back,” said Kosaku Hirata, 68, who was fishing at the time of the crash on Wednesday afternoon. “After flames became visible, it exploded and fell vertically. A loud sound was heard and there was black smoke.”)

‘Conventional’ fixed and rotary wing aircraft have the ability to maintain limited controlled flight by a combination of glide/autorotation when power failure is evident. I am unfamiliar with the emergency procedures to be adopted with the V22.

Quote:

Seems a novel / unusual failure mode. I had not heard of that one before this.

One of the very first crashes, fire in the engine nacelle. Fire occurred when the nacelle was moving from flight to landing configuration.

I mention that because this explosion and crash seems similar and occurred on final approach to the airfield for an emergency landing.

https://flightsafety.org/hs/hs_jul-aug93.pdf

Very sad. Always makes me nervous just thinking what-if a V-22 rotor was compromised - no way back from that. RIP to all.

Although the Chinook would presumably have similar fatal controllability problems if they lost a rotor or drive to a rotor ? Presumably the Osprey has cross-over driveshafts to keep both rotors turning if an engine fails? (Would not have helped here of course, as it sounds as if a rotor gearbox broke up).

Quote:

Originally Posted by ORAC (Post 11548707)

Thanks for the memory jog.
RIP, amigos. :suspect:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uplinker (Post 11548714)

........Presumably the Osprey has cross-over driveshafts to keep both rotors turning if an engine fails? (Would not have helped here of course, as it sounds as if a rotor gearbox broke up)......

It does have have an emergency crossover drive-shaft. During the early program loss at Quantico the cross drive shaft was compromised by fire, and as you state likely irrelevant with a gear box/prop-rotor compromise.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ORAC (Post 11548707)

One of the very first crashes, fire in the engine nacelle. Fire occurred when the nacelle was moving from flight to landing configuration.

There is a 'nacelle drainage' requirement that is intended to help prevent fire when there is a flammable fluid leak in the nacelle. Difficult to meet in a conventional nacelle (especially on an aircraft that has been in service for a while - various bits of debris and FOD tend to block the planned leakage paths) - damn near impossible in something like the Osprey.

Osprey Crash Wreckage, Remains of 5 Airmen Located 04 Dec 2023
https://www.airandspaceforces.com/os...amins-located/
"After a nearly weeklong search, U.S. and Japanese search teams have located the bulk of the wreckage of the U.S. Air Force CV-22 Osprey that crashed off the coast of southern Japan, along with the remains of most of its crew members...."
________________________

Long article with BIOs of the deceased airmen. AFSOC Aircraft Mishap Releases 03 Dec 2023
Air Force Special Operations Command Public Affairs
https://www.afsoc.af.mil/News/Articl...shap-releases/

US grounds Osprey aircraft fleet worldwide after Japan crash

In The Times midday update.

Quote:

The United States military has grounded its worldwide fleet of V-22 Osprey aircraft after a crash off the coast of Japan last week that killed eight service personnel.

The US air force special operations command (AFSOC) said: “Preliminary investigation information indicates a potential materiel failure caused the mishap, but the underlying cause of the failure is unknown at this time.”

Japan, the only other country that uses the hybrid tilt-rotor aircraft, which can land and take off vertically and fly horizontally, suspended flights for its 14 Ospreys immediately after the crash.

Last week’s crash happened during a training flight off the island of Yakushima, about 1,000km (620 miles) southwest of Tokyo. Witnesses said that the aircraft had flipped over and was on fire before it fell into the ocean. The bodies of two of the eight people on board have yet to be recovered.

The Osprey was travelling between a US Marine Corps base on Honshu island and the Kadena air base on the island of Okinawa.

Tony Bauernfeind, commander of the AFSOC, said: “The honourable service of these eight airmen to this great nation will never be forgotten, as they are now among the giants who shape our history.”

Residents of Okinawa, which hosts most of the American military in Japan, have expressed opposition to the deployment of the aircraft on the island because of its safety record. The Japanese Self-Defence Forces deployed Osprey in the Okinawa islands for the first time in October, for joint drills with American troops, prompting a protest from the island’s governor.

More than 50 people have died in crashes involving Ospreys, which are developed by Boeing and Bell Helicopter. Four military personnel were killed in a crash in northern Norway last year, and three US Marines died and 20 more were injured in August this year in a crash in northern Australia during a routine training exercise.

More than 400 of the aircraft are in service across the US air force, navy and Marine Corps.

The Osprey was the first tilt-rotor aircraft put into production. The aircraft have Rolls-Royce engines and can switch from vertical to horizontal flight in about 12 seconds.

The original development costs of $2.5 billion announced in 1986 had ballooned to about $30 billion two years later.

Minoru Kihara, the Japanese defence minister, said today that the country’s Ospreys would remain grounded until further notice, and that he expected the US to “share as much detailed information as possible” about the investigation into the aircraft.

Over a third of the fatalities mentioned in The Times article were due to the tragic loss of 19 US Marines on 8 April 2000 when the starboard rotor of MV-22B 165436 of MX-04 stalled at 245 ft when conducting a simulated rescue.