XBradTC

So, some 16 years later, the DoD acknowledges that an accident report that placed the blame for the loss of an MV-22 on the crew was, in fact, misleading.

 

WASHINGTON — U.S. Marine Corps pilots Maj. Brooks Gruber and Lt. Col. John Brow were incorrectly blamed as the primary cause of a V-22 Osprey crash that took their lives and killed 17 other Marines in April 2000, the Pentagon said Tuesday in an unusual reversal clearing the pilots' names.

 

 

While the crew did have some responsibility for the crash, they were also ill equipped by training and operational experience to prevent the mishap. What is shameful here though, is that by blaming the crash on the crew, the Marine Corps could essentially shrug off suggestions that the aircraft needed continued development and testing. Which, it obviously did, as it took another 7 years from the crash before the MV-22B even reached operational capability.

 

Sadly, blaming the crew seems to be something of a trend in the MV-22 story.

 

The father of one of two Marines killed in an MV-22B Osprey crash last year in Hawaii said he plans to sue Boeing and the other companies that make the aircraft…

 

… While investigators found the MV-22B pilots partially at fault for the May crash, they also determined that the pilots pilots did not violate any regulations or flight standards, Burns said.

 

Emphasis mine. So, the crew of the mishap aircraft in Hawaii did everything by the book, but they are still partially at fault? We take some personal interest in this, as we happen to know one of the crewmembers.

 

Building trust and credibility within an aircraft type community is a large part of enhancing operational safety in that community. Instead, the Marines are essentially telling all its Osprey crews that it's their fault, at least a little bit, when the bird lets you down. That's hardly going to foster a great deal of trust.