Another Osprey Crash Takes Lives of 5 Marines

MV-22B Osprey went down in California desert
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jun 9, 2022 12:15 PM CDT
4 Marines Die in Crash in California
A MV-22B Osprey tiltrotor aircraft flies at Marine Corps Air Facility at Marine Corps Base in Quantico, Va., on Aug. 3, 2012.   (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari, File)

(This summary has been updated to reflect the death of the fifth Marine.) Five Marines were killed after an Osprey aircraft crashed in the Southern California desert, a military official said Thursday, one day after the accident. The MV-22B Osprey was carrying the five Marines when it went down at 12:25pm Wednesday during training in a remote area in Imperial County near the community of Glamis, about 115 miles east of San Diego, per the AP. The aircraft was based at Camp Pendleton with Marine Aircraft Group 39 and was part of the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing headquartered at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego, said Maj. Mason Englehart, a spokesperson for the wing.

The MV-22B is a twin-engine tiltrotor aircraft that can take off and land like a helicopter but transit as a turboprop aircraft. Versions of the aircraft are flown by the Marine Corps, Navy, and Air Force. Prior to Wednesday's crash, Osprey crashes had caused 46 deaths, including 19 during a single accident in 2000, the Los Angeles Times reported.

  • Most recently, four Marines were killed when a Marine Corps Osprey crashed on March 18 near a Norwegian town in the Arctic Circle while participating in a NATO exercise.

  • In 2017, three Marines were killed when their MV-22B Osprey crashed off Queensland, Australia.
  • In 2015, one Marine was killed and 21 were injured when their MV-22 Osprey caught fire during a “hard landing” in Hawaii.
The Osprey is a joint project of Bell Helicopter Textron and Boeing. (More Marines stories.)

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