The Osprey’s Safety Issues Spiked Over Five Years
.By Tara Copp , Kevin Vineys , Aaron M. Kessler
Osprey flight engineer Tech Sgt. Brett McGee sits on the back open ramp of the V-22 and holds the aircraft’s .50 caliber gun as the crew flies over a New Mexico training range Oct. 9, 2024, near Cannon Air Force Base. (AP Photo/Tara Copp)
CANNON AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. (AP) — Over a New Mexico training range named the Hornet, two Osprey aircraft speed 100 feet off the ground, banking hard over valleys and hills as they close in on a dusty landing zone.
A flight engineer in the back braces a .50-caliber machine gun over the edge of the Osprey’s open ramp as desert shrubbery blurs past. The aircraft’s joints shift and rattle, and there is little steady to hold on to until the Osprey touches down with a bump, flooding seats with rust-colored dust.
After being grounded for months following a crash last November that killed eight U.S. service members in Japan, the V-22 Osprey is back in the air. But there are still questions as to whether it should be.
https://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2024/11/20/the_ospreys_safety_issues_spiked_over_five_years_1073409.html
