On 29 November, a US CV-22B "Osprey" tiltrotor transport plane made an emergency water landing in the waters west of Japan, and the fate of the six US military personnel on board is still unclear. This is one of several accidents that have occurred in recent years with the Osprey family of transport aircraft, raising questions about their safety and reliability.
According to reports by the US side and Japan, the "Osprey" transport plane involved in the accident belongs to the 21st Special Operations Squadron of the US Air Force, which is specially responsible for carrying out special operations missions, such as low-altitude infiltration and airborne supply and support. In the afternoon of the same day, the plane took off from the US Marine Corps Air Station in Iwakuni City, Yamaguchi Prefecture, and planned to fly to Kadena Air Base in Okinawa to carry out a flight mission with another transport plane of the same type. But in the middle of the flight, the left engine of the plane suddenly failed, and smoke came out, and the pilot tried to make an emergency landing at Yakushima Airport in southern Kagoshima Prefecture, but ultimately failed and crashed in the sea not far from the airport.
Local fishermen in Yakushima were the first witnesses to the crash, and they immediately called the emergency ** and took a boat to the scene of the incident. At sea, they found the wreckage of some planes and a flipped life raft, as well as an unconscious American occupant. They took the occupant to the hospital, but was later pronounced dead. This is the only confirmed victim so far, and the whereabouts of the other five crew members remain unknown.
The Japan Coast Guard and the U.S. military quickly launched a rescue operation, sending a number of ships and *** to search in the area where the incident occurred, but due to the low sea temperature and the fact that it has entered the night, the rescue is very difficult. So far, rescue teams have found no trace of the other victims, and their hopes of survival are slim.
Regarding the accident, the US military said that it was investigating the cause of the accident and suspended the "Osprey" transport plane flight exercise scheduled for Thursday. The US military also stressed that this was not a "crash" accident, but an "emergency water forced landing" incident, because the pilot had been trying to control the plane to land on the water, not lose control.
However, such statements did not dispel concerns and criticism about the Osprey family of transport aircraft. In fact, this is already the 16th serious accident of the Osprey family of transport aircraft in the past few years, resulting in the death of 53 people. With its double-tiltrotor design, this transport aircraft can switch between vertical take-off and landing and horizontal flight, which has high maneuverability and flexibility, but there are also great safety hazards, especially in the case of engine failure, the aircraft can easily lose balance and control, resulting in a crash.
Some people believe that the United States should abandon the expensive and dangerous transport aircraft of the "Osprey" in favor of a more stable and reliable tradition, but the US military seems unwilling to admit the shortcomings of the "Osprey" and is unwilling to give up investment in this project. Unless the US military can take effective measures to improve the safety performance of the "Osprey," similar accidents will continue to occur, causing even greater losses and troubles to the US military and Japan.