The Marine Corps has concluded an investigation into a June 2022 aircraft crash that killed five service members, finding a mechanical failure was responsible for the accident.
Cpl. Nathan Carlson, 21; Capt. Nicholas Losapio, 31; Cpl. Seth Rasmuson, 21; Lance Cpl. Evan Strickland, 19; and Capt. John Sax, 33, all of whom were assigned to Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 364, Marine Aircraft Group 39, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, were killed when an MV-22B Osprey went down on June 8, 2022 during a training mission near Glamis, California.
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The V-22 Joint Program Office released the findings of the investigation on Friday. Investigators concluded no errors were committed on the part of the pilots and aircrew, nor did any maintenance errors contribute to the crash.
“It was determined the pilots and aircrew were conducting routine flight operations in accordance with applicable regulations when a catastrophic, unpreventable and unanticipated mechanical failure occurred,” the statement said.
The cause of the mishap was a dual hard clutch engagement, which resulted in a single engine and interconnect drive system failure, and the failure resulted in a catastrophic loss of thrust on the right-hand proprotor. The subsequent degraded drivetrain caused by the dual HCE event and single engine failure “created an unrecoverable departure from controlled flight” that resulted in the crash.
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“Our latest research and mitigation efforts produced several new findings that significantly increased our understanding of the HCE phenomenon,” said Col. Brian Taylor, PMA-275 program manager. “While definitive root cause for all HCE events has not yet been identified, we are using this new information to implement solutions designed to reduce the likelihood of an HCE event and increase aircrew safety.”
The Marine Corps, in coordination with the original equipment manufacturer, has created a new Proprotor Gearbox Input Quill Assembly that was designed to prevent the unintentional clutch disengagements and hard clutch engagement events. They also improved other aspects of the aircraft, including the flight control system software, drivetrain component material strength, and inspection requirements and integrated a crash-survivable, high-temperature, fire-resistant flight data recorder into all MV-22B aircraft.
