The U.S. military has grounded all of its Osprey V-22 tilt-rotor aircraft a week after eight service members died when an Air Force CV-22 crashed off Kagoshima Prefecture¡¯s Yakushima island in the first fatal accident for the type in Japan.
The U.S. Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps announced that they were grounding hundreds of aircraft after a preliminary investigation into the Nov. 29 crash indicated that problems with the aircraft ¡ª not a mistake by the crew ¡ª had led to the deaths.
¡°Preliminary investigation information indicates a potential materiel failure caused the mishap, but the underlying cause of the failure is unknown at this time,¡± Lt. Gen. Tony Bauernfeind, head of U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command, said in a statement late Wednesday.
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