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Top Democratic lawmakers are calling on the Pentagon to ground the military’s entire fleet of V-22 Osprey aircraft, citing a troubling rise in safety incidents and mechanical failures.
Something you should know before you read: Over the last four years, there has been a notable uptick in severe incidents involving the V-22 Osprey, with a 46% increase in the most serious types of accidents between 2019 and 2023. The hybrid aircraft, designed to function as both a helicopter and an airplane, has been involved in numerous crashes tied to mechanical failures, including issues with its gearbox and reliance on an “interim power” feature for safe landings. A deadly crash in Japan in November 2023, which claimed the lives of eight service members, was attributed to a proprotor gearbox failure combined with pilot error. This incident followed a pattern of critical mechanical flaws, such as rapid wear on parts and faulty materials, which have long plagued the Osprey program. Since its debut, the aircraft has been involved in over 21 major accidents, resulting in 64 fatalities, raising persistent concerns about its reliability and safety.
What’s going on now: In a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Senators Elizabeth Warren, Ed Markey, and Representative Richard Neal, all Democrats from Massachusetts, demanded that the V-22 Osprey fleet be grounded until its “significant deficiencies are fully addressed.” Citing a “spike in grave safety issues over the past few years,” the lawmakers emphasized that the aircraft should not be deployed again without clear solutions to its recurring mechanical and safety problems.
“The reality for pilots is that they have to push the aircraft to its limits to stay safe,” they wrote, highlighting the dangers associated with relying on the interim power feature, which wears down critical parts. They also criticized “program failures that led to critical safety lapses” and called for greater transparency, including publicly releasing confidential Safety Investigation Board (SIB) reports.
In a statement, Senator Elizabeth Warren said, “To protect our servicemembers, DoD needs to ground this aircraft and be transparent about the problems plaguing this aircraft and its plan to address the root causes of the Osprey’s significant safety issues.”
The Pentagon has not commented on the letter.
