US blames pilot error for 2016 Osprey crash in Okinawa

September 11, 2017

NAHA, OKINAWA PREF.- The crash of a US Marine Corps MV-22 Osprey off Okinawa Prefecture last year was caused by pilot error, the head of US forces in the southernmost Japan prefecture said Monday. Lt. Gen. Lawrence Nicholson made the remark to Okinawa Vice Governor Moritake Tomikawa in a meeting at the Marine Corps' Camp Foster, also known as Camp Zukeran, in Okinawa. Nicholson did not apologize for the crash off the city of Nago last December, according to Tomikawa. Their talks at the camp, which straddles the village of Kitanakagusuku and other municipalities, were held to explain the results of US investigations into the accident. According to the vice governor, Nicholson also gave explanations about an emergency landing of a different Osprey tilt-rotor transport airplane in Oita Prefecture, southwestern Japan, on Aug. 29 this year. The landing was due to problems with instruments, Nicholson said, adding that the aircraft returned to Okinawa after its engines were replaced. Tomikawa said he wanted "explanations satisfactory to Okinawa residents about whether Ospreys are really safe," as well as technical reports. On Monday, the Japanese Defense Ministry released a US report on the crash that said the accident occurred when the aircraft's rotor blades hit an air tanker's filler hole. Jiji Press