There is no war going on, but the United States Marine Corps continues to lose aircraft in the Pacific. The last, an MV-22 Osprey, crashed near the Okinawa coast last night forcing the entire fleet of medium tiltrotors stationed at Futenma Marine Corps Air Station Base to land.
The aircraft in question was conducting a refueling operation in flight off the coast of Okinawa on Wednesday night, when the blades of one of the two rotors hit the supply line causing the aircraft to lose its trim, according to the pilot's statements' he was shaking violently after unhooking. '
To avoid losing control over inhabited areas, thus endangering the safety of the population, the commander of theOsprey he decided to avoid flying over land by trying to reach Camp Schwab by flying over the sea. The plane fell into the sea near the coast and all 5 crew members were rescued, two will remain in the hospital for investigations, the lt. gen. Lawrence D. Nicholson, commander of the III Marine Expeditionary Force.
This incident occurred shortly after the loss of the F / A -18 that crashed off western Japan (v.articolo), after the loss of an AV-8B Harrier (v.articolo) and after 6 recorded air accidents in 2015 it makes us reflect on the amount of losses and risk for pilots that is concentrating in this area.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters that this umpteenth incident is "extremely unfortunate", adding that the safety of the Japanese population must be absolutely guaranteed with regard to the air missions of US aircraft.
(photo: USMC)
