Global V-22 Osprey fleet grounded following fatal crash in Japan

A USAF-operated CV-22B Osprey was lost off Yakushima Island, Japan, on November 29, killing all eight airmen on board and resulting in a global operational stand-down of the tiltrotor. This incident marked the second fatal Osprey crash in 2023, after a USMC MV-22B – assigned to the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing (MAW) – crashed on Melville Island in Australia in August, killing three of the 23 Marines on board. A preliminary investigation of this latest incident indicated that a “material