US Grounds All MV-22 Ospreys In Japan After Crash

U.S. Military Grounds All Osprey Airplanes After Crash (excerpt)

(Source: Mainichi Japan; published Dec 14, 2016)

TOKYO --- The United States told Japan on Wednesday it will ground its Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft in line with Tokyo's request that it do so until the cause of a crash-landing of one of the planes in the sea off Okinawa is known, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said.

The move came in response to the first major accident involving the transport aircraft since the start of its deployment in Japan in 2012.

The U.S. Marines said in a statement all five crewmembers had been airlifted to safety when their aircraft "conducted a landing in shallow water off the Okinawa coastline of Camp Schwab at approximately 10:00 p.m.," referring to the Marine base in Nago.

Aerial photos of debris taken by Kyodo News showed the fuselage and part of a wing spotted in shallow waters off Nago.

"A formal investigation into the incident has been launched," said 1st Lt. Joseph Butterfield at the 3rd Marine Expeditionary Force based in the southernmost island prefecture.

Osprey aircraft, which take off and land like a helicopter but cruise like a plane, have been a matter of concern in Japan for some time. A slew of fatal accidents involving the aircraft have occurred overseas, most recently a landing accident in Hawaii that left one crewmember dead in May 2015. (end of excerpt)

Click here for the full story, on the Mainichi website.

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Crew Rescued After MV-22 Incident Off Coast of Okinawa

(Source: US Navy; issued Dec 13, 2016)

CAMP BUTLER, Okinawa, Japan --- All five crewmembers aboard an MV-22 Osprey with Marine Aircraft Group 36, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing were successfully rescued when their aircraft conducted a landing in shallow water off the Okinawa coastline of Camp Schwab at approximately 10:00 p.m., Dec. 13.

Click here for the full story, on the Mainichi website.

The crew was airlifted via HH-60G by the 33rd Rescue Squadron from Kadena Air Base to the United States Naval Hospital aboard Camp Foster where they are being treated for injuries.

A formal investigation into the incident has been launched. There will be no further information on the cause of the incident until the investigation is complete.

(EDITOR’S NOTE: This was not a “landing in shallow water,” as claimed above, but a violent crash in which the aircraft broke up into three main parts spread over an area of a couple of acres, judging from photographs published by Japanese media and visible in the embedded tweet.)

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