US military Osprey flights paused again amid safety questions

The US military is again pausing flights of it troubled V-22 Osprey fleet “to determine if any additional safety measures are necessary,” a Navy spokesperson said Monday.

The US military is again pausing flights of it troubled V-22 Osprey fleet “to determine if any additional safety measures are necessary,” a Navy spokesperson said Monday. “Today, Naval Air Forces directed an operational pause for all U.S. Navy CMV-22B Ospreys following a recommendation from Naval Air Systems Command,” Cmdr. Tim Hawkins said in a statement. “The operational pause allows us to determine if any additional safety measures are necessary.” A defense official said the pause follows an “immediate landing” from an Air Force CV-22 Osprey in New Mexico in November, the cause of which is being investigated. There were no injuries. Roughly a year ago, the military’s fleet of V-22 Osprey aircraft — variants of which are operated by the Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force — was grounded following a deadly Air Force Special Operations crash off the coast of Japan. The CV-22 Osprey crash, which occurred in late November 2023, resulted in the deaths of all eight airmen on board. The grounding guidance was lifted in March. In a series of briefings to reporters after the grounding was lifted, officials expressed confidence the Osprey would be safe to fly but provided few specifics as to what failed in the deadly November crash. Col. Brian Taylor, the program manager of the Naval Air Systems Command V-22 joint program office, told reporters when the grounding was lifted that the crash was due to an “unprecedented” component failure, though he declined to say which component it was or how it failed.