The crash last November off the coast of Japan killed eight. The Air Force said the pilot decided to keep flying rather than heed multiple warnings that he should land.
FILE - In this photo provided by Japan Coast Guard, debris believed to be from a U.S. military Osprey aircraft is seen off the coast of Yakushima Island in Kagoshima Prefecture in Japan, Nov. 29, 2023. last November off Japan was caused by cracks in a metal gear and the pilot's decision to keep flying rather than heed multiple warnings that he should land, according to an Air Force investigation released Thursday.of the fleet.
On the day of the crash, the Osprey was flying along the coast of mainland Japan headed to Okinawa when the first indications of trouble began. When the third chip burn warning posted, the crew was close to mainland Japan and just 10 miles from its nearest airfield. The official guidance after three chip burns was to"land as soon as practical," guidance that still leaves that decision to the pilot's discretion.
The fourth and fifth chip burn warnings came fast. Then with the sixth, escalation: just chips. It meant the Osprey could not burn them off."Land as soon as practical" turned into"land as soon as possible." Still, the crew members did not act with urgency.In the final minutes of flight, they had begun to position the aircraft to land. The Osprey was half a mile from an airfield at Yakushima, flying about 785 feet above the water.
Inside the proprotor gearbox, the pinion gear was breaking apart. At least one piece wedged into the teeth of the larger transmission gearing system, jamming and breaking off gearing teeth until the left proprotor gearbox could no longer turn the Osprey's left proprotor mast.
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