Navy, Marine
Corps Ospreys make precautionary landings at Japanese airport
CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa — A Navy Osprey made a precautionary landing Thursday at a commercial airport on an island north of Okinawa, a week after a Marine Corps tiltrotor made a similar landing there.
A CMV-22 Osprey assigned to Fleet Logistics Support Squadron 30, Detachment 1, landed at Amami Airport at approximately 4 p.m. without incident, U.S. Naval Forces Japan spokesman Cmdr. Paul Macapagal said by email Friday.
Seven crew members were on board the tiltrotor, which is deployed from Naval Air Station North Island in San Diego. Macapagal did not elaborate further.
No injuries or property damage were reported, and the cause of the landing is under investigation, he said. The aircraft was still at the airport on Friday afternoon.
“Precautionary landings are a part of our training and commitment to the highest safety standards for our personnel and the communities we serve,” he wrote.
The Osprey landed after “a warning lamp turned on while it was flying,” a spokesman with the Kyushu Defense Bureau, an arm of Japan’s Ministry of Defense, said by phone Friday. Civilian flights at the airport were not affected, he added.
Japan Ground Self-Defense Force personnel from the Amami Area Security Force were dispatched to the airport, the spokesman said.
Some Japanese government officials are required to speak to the media only on condition of anonymity.
The incident follows a Nov. 14 precautionary landing at the airport by an MV-22B Osprey assigned to Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 265 from Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, according to 1st Marine Aircraft Wing spokesman Maj. Joseph Butterfield.
The aircraft was conducting routine training when it landed at approximately 10:45 a.m. following onboard warning indications, Butterfield said by email Friday. He did not elaborate on the warning indications.
No injuries or property damage were reported, he wrote.
Two other MCAS Futenma-based tiltrotors landed at the airport at 10:45 a.m. and 11:11 a.m. to help with maintenance, the bureau spokesman said.
The aircraft returned to their base the same day, Butterfield said.
“Operating our aircraft safely and effectively is a top priority, and our aviators take great precautions to ensure the safety of the aircrew and the communities in which we operate,” he wrote.
Ospreys have come under increasing scrutiny after a series of fatal accidents. The U.S. and Japan grounded their tiltrotor fleets after an Osprey with Air Force Special Operations Command crashed Nov. 29, 2023, just off Yakushima, an island south of Kyushu in southern Japan, killing all eight crew members on board.
The accident investigation found a catastrophic mechanical failure at fault, compounded by a “lack of urgency” by the crew to deal with an engine problem.
The revolutionary aircraft lands and takes off like a helicopter but flies as a fixed-wing aircraft.
Ingen kommentarer:
Legg inn en kommentar
Merk: Bare medlemmer av denne bloggen kan legge inn en kommentar.