Marine Corps Osprey Crashes Off Okinawa

An MV-22B Osprey crashed off of Okinawa, Japan on Tuesday, for unknown reasons. All five crew members were rescued by the Air Force’s 33^rd Rescue Squadron, based at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa.The crash is the latest in a series of Marine Corps aviation accidents, including a crash off the coast of Oahu in October of this year. That crash killed 12 Marines and was caused by pilot error, according to the Marine Corps.The Osprey’s crew members were being treated for their injuries atUnited States Naval Hospital at Camp Foster, Okinawa, according to III MEF.“A formal investigation into the mishap has been launched,” said a III MEF news release. “There will be no further information on the cause of the mishap until the investigation is complete."

Osprey Crash Latest in Marine Corps Mistakes

Five other incidences this fiscal year have been classified as Class-Five mishaps, including the death of Marine Capt. Jake Frederick, who died when his F/A-18C crashed 120 miles southeast of Iwakuni, Japan.Other mishaps include a CH-53E Super Stallion clipping a building with its main rotor near Yuma Arizona, an F/A-18C with Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 251 crashing while landing at Twentynine Palms Expeditionary Landing Field in California. The pilot ejected safely in that incident.The Marine Corps’ problems stem from aging aircraft, a decade of constant combat operations, budget cuts, and delays in the F-35 program, which is supposed to replace all of the Marines’ F/A-18 Hornets, FA-6B Prowler and AV-8B Harrier II jets.“We are in a pretty tough place and we had to develop a plan and our plan is happening. But it’s not happening fast enough,” Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Robert Neller told reporters on Dec. 7. “The bottom line is we’ve got to recapitalize aviation. We need to replace our airplanes. We’ve got to get better parts support. We’ve got to get more hours so if there is a human factor involved in this, we make sure that the air crew have been flying so we drive that down.”