Osprey Grounded Amid Safety Concerns

W A S H I N G T O N, Aug. 28, 2000 -- The Marine Corps said it was temporarily grounding all 11 of its MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotoraircraft, the hybrid airplane-helicopter that has been underincreased scrutiny since one crashed during a training exercise inApril, killing all 19 Marines aboard.

The decision, announced Sunday, was made lateFriday by the Naval Aviation Systems Command, which also orderedthe Marines to temporarily ground its fleet of CH-53E SuperStallion transport helicopters and AH-1W Cobra attack helicopters,spokesman Lt. David Nevers said.

Nevers said the most significant of the three actions was thegrounding of the workhorse CH-53E Super Stallions, because it islikely to take longer to get them back in the air than either theOspreys or the Cobras.

Deadly Crash

Nonetheless, the Osprey’s problem is likely to draw the mostpublic attention, in part because of recollections of the Aprilcrash — the worst Marine helicopter loss in more than a decade — and in part because some members of Congress have criticized theOsprey program as too expensive and technically flawed.

The Osprey takes off and lands like a helicopter but flies likean airplane. It is built by Boeing Co. and Bell Helicopter Textron.

The Osprey fleet was taken out of operation for about two monthsafter the April crash in Arizona. Investigators determined thecrash was caused by mistakes made by the pilot and co-pilot, not amechanical problem.

The Ospreys resumed flying in June.

Under Repair

Last Thursday, an Osprey made a precautionary landing at CampLejeune, N.C., and a subsequent maintenance inspection revealedthat a coupling on the aircraft’s drive shaft had failed. Thecoupling was repaired and the Osprey returned to its home base atMarine Corps Air Station New River, N.C.

“In the interests of safety, they will check the otheraircraft’s couplings” before returning them to flight, Neverssaid. He said he could not estimate how long they would be out ofoperation.

The Marines are counting on the Osprey to eventually replace thecorps’ Vietnam-era CH-46 helicopters as the primary means oftransporting troops into combat from ships offshore. The Marinesplan to buy 360 Ospreys, and the Air Force plans to buy 50 for itsspecial operations forces.

The Defense Department has not yet made a final decision toenter full-rate production of the Osprey.

Out of Service

The decision to ground three types of Marine Corps aircraft,albeit for unrelated reasons, puts an unusually large portion ofthe Marine aviation fleet out of operation. In July, 106 of theMarines’ AV-8B Harrier fighter jets were grounded because of anengine bearing problem. Thirty of the Harriers have since returnedto flight, but that leaves the majority of the fighters stillgrounded.

The decision to ground all 165 of the Marines’ CH-53E SuperStallions was based on findings from the investigation into theAug. 10 crash of a Navy MH-53E mine-sweeping helicopter off thecoast of Corpus Christi, Texas, in which four people were killed.Nevers said investigators found a bearing problem, but he was notsure of the exact nature of the problem.

Eight Super Stallions currently are on overseas deployment withMarine Expeditionary Units, Nevers said.

The corps’ 198 AH-1W Cobra attack helicopters were groundedafter it was discovered this week that some older rotor blades maybe susceptible to cracking. Each Cobra will undergo a one-timeinspection to identify and replace, if necessary, the suspectblades, Nevers said. Eight are currently deployed abroad.

The Cobras are likely to undergo “a relatively quick fix,”Nevers said, and return to normal operations.