Real Engineering reviews what happened in the Yakushima accident, Japan

An analysis of the Osprey and its reliability compared to two famous helicopters

Esp 2·02·2025 · 23:10 0

The Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey has been a revolutionary aircraft since its first flight on March 19, 1989.

The insertion of Spanish Marines in Poland using USMC MV-22B Osprey
The unusual arrival in Spain of United States special operations Osprey aircraft

The Osprey was the first operational military tiltrotor, an aircraft capable of behaving like a helicopter when taking off and landing, while also flying like a fixed-wing aircraft. This is made possible by its two Rolls-Royce T406-AD-400 tiltrotor engines, each equipped with a three-bladed rotor with a diameter of 12 metres.

A CV-22B Osprey from the U.S. Air Force's 352nd Special Operations Wing takes off from the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) March 2, 2023 (Photo: U.S. Air Force / Tech. Sgt. Westin Warburton).

The Osprey currently has very few operators. It is only used by the US Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, and the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force. Since 1991, the V-22 has been involved in 25 accidents, which has generated some controversy about the aircraft. The most recent of these accidents occurred on November 29, 2023, when a USAF CV-22B Osprey crashed into the sea near Yakushima Island, Japan, killing all eight people on board the convertiplane.

A U.S. Navy CMV-22B Osprey from Fleet Logistics Multi-Mission Squadron (VRM) 30 lands on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) on November 20, 2020 (Photo: U.S. Navy photo / Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Aaron T. Smith).

Following the accident, The US and Japan grounded their Osprey fleets for three months until they found out what went wrong. The results of the investigation were known in August 2024.

A U.S. Marine Corps MV-22B Osprey on the flight deck of the dock landing ship USS Germantown (LSD 42) on July 14, 2021 (Photo: US Navy / Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Apprentice Nicholas M. Skyles).

This Saturday, Real Engineering posted an excellent video about this aircraft and the accident in question, taking a detailed look at how the Osprey works and what went wrong with the CV-22B that crashed near Yakushima. The video also compares the Osprey crashes to those of two famous helicopters, the UH-60 Black Hawk and the CH-47 Chinook, noting that these two aircraft have been experiencing a higher accident and fatality ratio than the tiltrotor:

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Main photo: DVIDShub.net. A U.S. Marine Corps MV-22B Osprey flies over Al Anbar province, Iraq, November 10, 2007.

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