Okinawa [Japan], March 14 : An Osprey transport aircraft on Thursday resumed flights at a US base in Japan's southern prefecture of Okinawa for the first time since last November when the entire fleet was grounded following a deadly crash, Japan-based NHK reported.
US forces and Japan's Ground Self-Defense Force grounded their fleet of ospreys after one of the tilt-rotor aircraft crashed off the southwestern prefecture of Kagoshima last November, killing all eight US military personnel on board.
On Wednesday, Japan's Defence Ministry announced that the aircraft would resume flights in phases starting Thursday, after the completion of maintenance and crew training
Shortly before 9:00 am (local time) on Thursday, an Osprey was seen hovering over the US Marine Corps Futenma Air Station and was confirmed to be gaining altitude.
The US 1st Marine Aircraft Wing announced that it had resumed flights of the MV-22 Osprey at Futenma.
Meanwhile, Okinawa Prefecture has criticized the decision to put the aircraft back in the air so soon after the flight ban was lifted. There has also been criticism of the US side's failure to disclose details of what caused the November crash, NHK reported.
Okinawa and Kagoshima prefectures are also demanding the disclosure of more detailed information.
One person was killed after a US military Osprey aircraft crashed off the coast of Japan's Yakushima Island in southern Kagoshima prefecture in November last year. Following this, the US military decided to ground the entire fleet of V-22 Ospreys.
Lt Gen Tony Bauernfeind, commander of Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC), directed an "operational standdown" of the Air Force's CV-22 fleet "to mitigate risk while the investigation continues" into last week's crash. Naval Air Systems Command said that it was grounding the Navy and Marine Corps V-22s out of "an abundance of caution" as the CV-22 crash is investigated.
The Osprey is a highly flexible aircraft that can take off vertically like a helicopter but also carry out high-speed cruising of a more conventional turboprop plane with wings.
Osprey is generally considered safe to fly, but the aircraft has had a history of mechanical and operational issues, since its inception in the 1980s, CNN reported, citing military analyst and retired US Air Force Colonel
In August 2023, three US Marines were killed and several others seriously wounded after an Osprey crashed during military exercises in Australia. In 2022, five US Marines died after their MV-22B Osprey plane crashed during a training mission near Glamis, California. The same year, four US service members were killed when their Osprey crashed during NATO training exercises in Norway.
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