The U.S. Military has grounded its fleet of Bell Boeing V-22 Ospreys following the fatal crash of a CV-22 near Yakushima, Japan, on Nov. 29.
The tiltrotor crashed during a routine training mission, claiming the lives of all eight on board.
The Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) said preliminary investigation indicated a potential materiel failure had caused the accident, with AFSOC Commander Lt. Gen. Tony Bauernfeind calling for the operational stand down of the Air Force CV-22 fleet to “mitigate risk” while the investigation continues.
In a statement announcing the stand down, AFSOC said the underlying cause of the failure is still unknown.
“The stand down will provide time and space for a thorough investigation to determine causal factors and recommendations to ensure the Air Force CV-22 fleet returns to flight operations,” AFSOC said.
Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) then issued its own grounding bulletin for all V-22 variants “out of an abundance of caution.”
“While the mishap remains under investigation, we are implementing additional risk mitigation controls to ensure the safety of our service members,” NAVAIR said in a statement.
“The safety of pilots and air crews is our number one priority.”
