A U.S. Marine Corps MV-22 Osprey from the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit made a hard-landing while conducting training aboard Marine Corps...
A U.S. Marine Corps MV-22 Osprey from the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit made a hard-landing while conducting training aboard Marine Corps Training Area – Bellows on Sunday at approximately 11:40 a.m., Hawaii time.
One Marine was killed in the incident while all other 21 have been transported to local hospitals for assessment and treatment.
The Marines were conducting routine sustainment training at the time. The 15th MEU departed San Diego May 10 on a seven-month deployment to the Pacific Command and Central Command areas of operation.
Bellows is used primarily as a training area for Marines and other military units.
USMC is the major operator of the Bell Boeing MV-22 Osprey. The tilt rotor Osprey can takeoff and land like a helicopter with its rotor tilting upwards and fly like an turboprop with the rotors tilting forward.
Despite its improved operational capability, the program sustained cancellation due two fatal crashes in 2000.
The tiltrotor was reportedly in hover mode during which it lost power and crash landed. While technically capable of autorotation if both engines fail in helicopter/hover mode, performance is poor and a safe landing is difficult. Unlike helicopters, which have large diameter rotors, the Osprey has comparatively smaller dia rotors which hence have low inertia, resulting in poor autorotation.
