Photo/Illutration In a joint drill with the Ground Self-Defense Force, two U.S. Marine Corps Osprey aircraft fly at the GSDF Hijiudai training site in Oita Prefecture on Feb. 18. (Jun Kaneko)

A U.S. military Osprey transport aircraft crashed off the coast of Yakushima island in Kagoshima Prefecture, killing at least one of the eight crew members.

It is the first fatal accident in Japan involving the tilt-rotor aircraft, which has been plagued by troubles.

The Osprey, whose design allows it to take off and land like a helicopter but fly like a turboprop airplane, has also been deployed by Japan’s Self-Defense Forces and plays a crucial role in defending the nation’s southwestern islands.

As the urgent search for the missing crew members continues, a thorough and comprehensive investigation into the cause of the crash must start immediately.

The aircraft was deployed at the U.S. Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo. Carrying eight people, it was flying from the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni in Yamaguchi Prefecture to the U.S. Kadena Air Base in Okinawa Prefecture.

It was conducting routine training near Yakushima at the time of the accident.

Ospreys often fly to U.S. military and SDF bases and camps across Japan. They sometimes fly over residential areas during regular exercises in various parts of the nation.

If something goes wrong, an Osprey could cause a disaster involving many civilians.

The Defense Ministry has naturally requested the U.S. military to suspend Osprey flights until the aircraft’s safety can be confirmed. The ministry should keep pressing for Ospreys to remain grounded to ensure safety and a sense of security among residents.

Osprey flights and training should not resume until a convincing explanation for the accident is provided.

Despite strong opposition from people in Okinawa, Ospreys have been deployed at the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in the prefecture since 2012.

Currently, six CV-22s used by the U.S. Air Force operate out of the Yokota base, while 24 Marine Corps MV-22s are stationed at Futenma.

After every accident involving an Osprey, both the U.S. military and the Defense Ministry have emphasized that its safety is not inferior to that of other aircraft models.

But the continuing series of Osprey accidents makes it difficult to place much faith in these claims.

An MV-22 Osprey stationed at the Futenma base crash-landed and broke apart just off the coast of Nago in Okinawa Prefecture in 2016, injuring five crew members. An investigation showed that the Osprey crashed after its propellers clipped a thick hose on an aerial tanker during nighttime refueling.

A June 2022 crash of an MV-22 in California, which killed five crew members, was blamed on a serious mechanical failure in the clutch connecting the engine to a propeller’s rotor gearbox.

In the latest crash, a witness reported seeing fire coming from one of the engines. Investigators must clarify if the accident was caused by any structural problem.

The Ground SDF has suspended flights of its Osprey fleet for the time being. The GSDF has temporarily deployed 14 Ospreys at Camp Kisarazu in Chiba Prefecture and plans to move them to a new camp being built next to Saga airport in Saga city by July 2025.

The GSDF Ospreys are expected to be used to transport SDF units that will play a central role in defending Japan’s southwestern islands.

However, negotiations with local communities for this deployment did not go smoothly, and the start of construction work was delayed to June this year.

The Japanese government is accelerating its “southwest shift” in defense capabilities with China in mind. But gaining the understanding and support of local residents, including those in Okinawa Prefecture, is crucial for this strategic pivot.

The government’s response to the Osprey accident will be an acid test of whether this plan will go well.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Dec. 1