SPOKANE, Wash. – An MV-22 Osprey went down on Sunday at a Hawaii military base during a training exercise, taking the life of 24-year-old Lance Corporal Joshua Barron from Spokane. The Osprey has been involved in a few crashes, raising questions about the safety of that type of aircraft.
The U.S. Marine Corps. Said the hybrid of an airplane and helicopter has proven it is safe despite those accidents.
It was a fiery crash that witnesses saw after the Marines said the aircraft made a "hard landing."
"No explosion, we didn't hear any sound. We just saw the smoke and that's what caught our attention," said a witness.
Besides this most recent crash in Hawaii, there were two test flights in 2000 that killed 23 Marines. The Osprey program was almost scrapped but analysts said the Marines increased the training for pilots after those crashes.
"They're going to make an immediate difference, search teams waiting to go to remote areas," said Brig. Gen. Paul Kennedy with the Marine Corps.
The Osprey helped with the response to the recent earthquake in Nepal, and also was used in the raid in Syria to kill a top ISIS leader.
A local retired Gunnery Sergeant said this is a challenge Marines have faced in the past as they adjust to a different aircraft.
"When new technology comes out, there's always a few bugs that rear their face after you've been flying," said Randy Mace, a retired Marines Corps. Gunnery Sergeant.
The Marines have not stopped training with Ospreys and do not plan to ground its fleet because of the crash. But any Ospreys flying out of a part of Japan have been suspended by the local government because of this crash.