The Air Force says a deadly Osprey aircraft crash last November off Japan was caused by cracks in a metal gear and the pilot’s decision to keep flying instead of heeding multiple warnings that he should land.
FILE - In this image provided by the U.S. Navy, Aviation Boatswain's Mate 2nd Class Nicholas Hawkins signals an MV-22 Osprey to land on the flight deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Arabian Sea on May 17, 2019. – A deadly Osprey aircraft crash last November off Japan was caused by cracks in a metal gear and the pilot’s decision to keep flying, instead of heeding multiple warnings that he should land, according to an Air Force investigation released Thursday..
In aircraft, vibrations are monitored as signs of potential trouble. A data recorder noted vibrations on the left side of the driveshaft that links the two engines and acts as a fail safe in case one engine loses power.and his crew never knew about the vibrations, because that data can only be downloaded at the end of a flight.
According to the voice data recorder, Hoernemann and the crew were looking for secondary indications of a problem, such as the proprotor gearbox overheating, but saw none. So Hoernemann instead directed his co-pilot to keep monitoring the situation and elected to continue the 300-nautical-mile flight over water to Okinawa.
In the final minutes of flight, they’d 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. Hoernemann then directed his co-pilot to “do one more big, right-hand loop and come in and just set up for landing.”
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