V-22 Osprey under lupen etter mange ulykker - Stars & Stripes

 

Listen over ulykker og alvorlige hendelser har jeg vist her tidligere, sammen med min antakelse om at en slik safety review ville finne sted. 

(Red.)

Top Marine Corps officer orders servicewide safety review in aftermath of deadly Osprey crash

By 

MICHAEL SLAVIN

STARS AND STRIPES • August 30, 2023

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A Marine Corps MV-22B Osprey flies aid supplies to Bougainville Island, Papua New Guinea, on Aug. 12, 2023. Gen. Eric Smith, the assistant commandant of the Marine Corps, called for a servicewide safety review to be done by Sept. 15 following an Osprey crash this week that killed three Marines and left eight hospitalized. (J. R. Heins/U.S. Marine Corps)

The Marine Corps will undergo a servicewide safety review in September following an Osprey crash in Australia this week that killed three Marines and left eight hospitalized.

In an administrative message Tuesday, Gen. Eric Smith, the assistant commandant of the Marine Corps, called for a “thorough and harsh review” to be done by Sept. 15.

Commanders and supervisors will have to examine their units’ attitudes on safety, identify risks and come up with ways of mitigating them, Smith said. Their feedback must be submitted by Oct. 15.

Discussions will be held with junior service members, who are encouraged to provide input on perceived hazards.

“I expect each unit to gather … to discuss, in detail, the elements of what it means to be a professional warfighting organization as it relates to the safe conduct of every event from training to combat,” Smith said. “Safety is not a peacetime concern; it is a warfighting issue.”

The review “is not a venue for lectures or for wagging our finger at a Marine or a command,” Smith said.

Among the goals of the measure are ensuring that Joint Light Tactical Vehicle operators are getting adequate rest, that protective equipment is worn as required and that missions are reviewed beforehand, he said.

Smith framed the review as a means of providing room for improvement in the Corps. He said “nearly a platoon’s worth” of Marines and sailors are lost each year because of training accidents and off-duty occurrences.

Smith also holds the role of acting Marine Corps commandant. His appointment to the top officer job is one of about 300 senior military leadership positions being held up in Congress by Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala.

The cause of Sunday’s Osprey crash during a training exercise is still under investigation. As of Monday, eight of the 20 survivors remained in the hospital.

This was the latest in a string of fatal training accidents the Marine Corps has experienced in recent years.

In 2020, eight Marines and a sailor died when an amphibious assault vehicle they were riding in sank off the coast of California. Improper training and maintenance failures were listed as causes of the accident.

In 2022, a clutch problem caused another Osprey to crash in California, killing five Marines.

MICHAEL SLAVIN

Michael covers the U.S. military in Bavaria and Central Europe for Stars and Stripes. He is a Milwaukee, Wis., native and alumni of the Defense Information School.