{"id":77272,"date":"2024-08-01T17:26:03","date_gmt":"2024-08-01T17:26:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2024\/08\/01\/gear-cracks-pilot-decision-led-to-japan-osprey-crash-air-force-says\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T16:30:53","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T16:30:53","slug":"gear-cracks-pilot-decision-led-to-japan-osprey-crash-air-force-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2024\/08\/01\/gear-cracks-pilot-decision-led-to-japan-osprey-crash-air-force-says\/","title":{"rendered":"Gear cracks, pilot decision led to Japan Osprey crash, Air Force says"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A deadly Osprey aircraft crash last November off Japan was caused by cracks in a metal gear and the pilot\u2019s decision to keep flying, instead of heeding multiple warnings that he should land, according to an Air Force investigation released Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The CV-22B Osprey crash killed eight Air Force Special Operations Command service members and led to a monthslong <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-military\/2023\/12\/07\/us-military-grounds-entire-fleet-of-osprey-aircraft\/\" target=\"_blank\">military-wide grounding<\/a> of the fleet. It\u2019s among four fatal Osprey crashes in the last two years driving investigations into <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-military\/2023\/12\/07\/ospreys-had-history-of-safety-issues-long-before-they-were-grounded\/\" target=\"_blank\">the Osprey\u2019s safety record<\/a>. It\u2019s created a split among the services about the future role of the unique aircraft, which can fly like an airplane but land like a helicopter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For months, the Air Force would only say an unprecedented component failure caused the crash. On Thursday, it identified that a toothed piece called a pinion gear \u2014 a critical part of the proprotor gearbox \u2014 was to blame. The proprotor gearbox serves as the aircraft\u2019s transmission: Inside each gearbox, five pinion gears spin hard to transmit the engine\u2019s power to turn the Osprey\u2019s masts and rotor blades.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2023\/11\/29\/us-air-force-osprey-crashes-off-southern-japan-at-least-1-dead\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP23333468849737.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">US Air Force Osprey crashes off southern Japan, at least 1 dead<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The cause of the crash and the conditions of seven other troops who were aboard the tiltrotor aircraft remain unknown.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While the Air Force is confident it was the pinion gear that failed, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.airforcetimes.com\/news\/your-air-force\/2024\/02\/20\/air-force-knows-what-failed-in-fatal-osprey-crash-but-not-why\/\" target=\"_blank\">it still doesn\u2019t know why<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But Pentagon leadership in charge of the V-22 Ospreys knew that \u201ctotal loss of aircraft and crew were possible\u201d should those proprotor gearbox components fail, lead investigator Lt. Gen. Michael Conley told reporters Wednesday in a call ahead of the report&#8217;s release. In a rare move, the investigation also faulted that office, saying it did not share safety data that could have educated crews on the severity of the risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In an interview with The Associated Press, Conley said he believed it was the pilot&#8217;s instinct to complete the military exercise that drove his decisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cTo a degree, it\u2019s a way of life here. I mean, we want people in this command that are biased towards \u2018yes,\u2019 biased towards getting the mission done,\u201d Conley said. \u201cAs we went through the investigation, I saw someone that was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.airforcetimes.com\/news\/your-air-force\/2024\/06\/11\/families-balance-grief-with-osprey-pilots-love-for-the-aircraft\/\" target=\"_blank\">confident in the aircraft<\/a> but not cocky.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1200\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/ospreycomposite.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-72234\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/ospreycomposite.jpg.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/ospreycomposite.jpg.jpg?resize=300,188 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/ospreycomposite.jpg.jpg?resize=768,480 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/ospreycomposite.jpg.jpg?resize=1024,640 1024w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/ospreycomposite.jpg.jpg?resize=1536,960 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The crew of Gundam 22, pictured from top left: Maj. Jeff Hoernemann; Maj. Luke Unrath; Maj. Eric Spendlove; Capt. Terry Brayman. From bottom left: Tech. Sgt. Zach Lavoy; Staff Sgt. Jake Turnage; Staff Sgt. Jake Galliher; Senior Airman Kody Johnson. (Air Force)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On the day of the crash, the Osprey was flying along the coast of mainland Japan headed to Okinawa when the first indications of trouble began.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In aircraft, vibrations are monitored as signs of potential trouble. A data recorder noted vibrations on the left side of the driveshaft that links the two engines and acts as a fail-safe in case one engine loses power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A second vibration followed. This time one of the five pinion gears inside the left proprotor gearbox was vibrating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But pilot <a href=\"https:\/\/www.airforcetimes.com\/news\/your-air-force\/2023\/12\/12\/family-friends-mourn-8-airmen-killed-in-osprey-crash-in-japan\/\" target=\"_blank\">Maj. Jeff Hoernemann and his crew<\/a> never knew about the vibrations, because that data can only be downloaded at the end of a flight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Five minutes after the first vibration, a left proprotor gearbox chip burn warning posted in the cockpit. The warning lets the crew know there\u2019s metal flaking coming off the Osprey\u2019s gearing, another indication of stress.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2023\/11\/30\/japan-suspends-osprey-flights-after-fatal-us-aircraft-crash\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP23334091904539.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Japan suspends Osprey flights after fatal US aircraft crash<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Tokyo has asked the U.S. military to ground all Ospreys operating in Japan except for those searching for the downed airmen.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Chipping is a common enough occurrence in rotary flight that there\u2019s a safety net designed into the Osprey. The chip detector can burn the chips off so they don\u2019t travel in the oil and destroy the transmission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If the burn is successful, the warning clears.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The crew got six chip warnings that day. Each presented an opportunity for Hoernemann to heed the warning and land as a precaution, but he did not, and investigators found that decision was a causal factor in the crash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When the third chip burn warning posted, the crew was still close to mainland Japan and just 10 miles from its nearest airfield. The official guidance after three chip burns was to \u201cland as soon as practical,\u201d guidance that still leaves that decision to the pilot\u2019s discretion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to the voice data recorder, Hoernemann and the crew were looking for secondary indications of a problem, such as the proprotor gearbox overheating, but saw none. So Hoernemann instead directed his co-pilot to keep monitoring the situation and elected to continue the 300-nautical-mile flight over water to Okinawa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hoernemann was likely balancing split priorities in his decision-making, the investigation found. He was leading the airborne portion of the military exercise and had spent months planning for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Until almost the final minutes of flight, he kept his primary focus on completing the exercise, not the evolving aircraft situation, the investigation found. He rejected his co-pilot\u2019s suggestions of using an onboard mapping tool to identify the closest airfield to land. But the co-pilot was also not direct about \u201chis uneasiness with the evolving issues,\u201d the investigation found, based on the recovered voice data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The fourth and fifth chip burn warnings came fast. Then with the sixth, escalation: just chips. It meant the Osprey could not burn them off. \u201cLand as soon as practical\u201d turned into \u201cland as soon as possible.\u201d Still, the crew members did not act with urgency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the final minutes of flight, they\u2019d begun to position the aircraft to land. The Osprey was half a mile from an airfield at Yakushima, flying about 785 feet above the water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But they waited again and deferred as Japanese traffic controllers told them to hold for local traffic to take off, even as Hoernemann confirmed over the radio they had an in-flight emergency.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2024\/02\/28\/military-prepares-to-brief-a-plan-to-get-its-v-22-ospreys-flying-again\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"182\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP24051452520228.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Military prepares to brief a plan to get its V-22 Ospreys flying again<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The military services on Friday will lay out plans to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin for addressing safety concerns stemming from a fatal 2023 crash.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Osprey gave its final chip-related warning three minutes before the crash: chip detector fail. Hoernemann told the crew he was no longer worried, he now assumed the earlier warnings were errors due to a faulty chip detector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Instead, investigators later found the fail message occurred because the detector \u201chad so many chips on it, it couldn&#8217;t keep up,\u201d Conley said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hoernemann then directed his co-pilot to \u201cdo one more big, right-hand loop and come in and just set up for landing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But inside the proprotor gearbox, the pinion gear was breaking apart. At least one piece wedged into the teeth of the larger transmission gearing system, jamming and breaking off gearing teeth until the left proprotor gearbox could no longer turn the Osprey\u2019s left proprotor mast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Within six seconds of the proprotor gearbox failing, catastrophic destruction splintered through the Osprey gearing and interconnected drive system. At that point, there was nothing the crew members could have done to save themselves or the aircraft, the investigation found.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Osprey rolled violently, inverted twice with its left engine housing on fire and crashed into the water, killing all on board.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Following the crash, crews are now directed to land as soon as practical on a first chip burn and as soon as possible on the second. The joint program office is also working on a new system that would communicate vibration data in real-time to pilots, to give them better awareness during flight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The accident killed Maj. Eric V. Spendlove, 36, of St. George, Utah; Maj. Luke A. Unrath, 34, of Riverside, California; Capt. Terrell K. Brayman, 32, of Pittsford, New York; Tech. Sgt. Zachary E. Lavoy, 33, of Oviedo, Florida; Staff Sgt. Jake M. Turnage, 25, of Kennesaw, Georgia; Senior Airman Brian K. Johnson, 32, of Reynoldsburg, Ohio; Staff Sgt. Jacob M. Galliher, 24, of Pittsfield, Massachusetts; and Hoernemann, 32, of Andover, Minnesota.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An investigation found a deadly Osprey crash resulted from pinion gear cracks and the pilot&#8217;s decision to keep flying instead of heeding landing warnings.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":70905,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":65,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,12,26,65],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3342],"class_list":["post-77272","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-news","category-newsletters","category-your-navy"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"F4ZEO4SXGBNGI4RTOVXSW4TFHF","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-military\/2024\/08\/01\/gear-cracks-pilot-decision-led-to-japan-osprey-crash-air-force-says\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Gear cracks, pilot decision led to Japan Osprey crash, Air Force says - Navy Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"An investigation found a deadly Osprey crash resulted from pinion gear cracks and the pilot&#039;s decision to keep flying instead of heeding landing warnings.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Gear cracks, pilot decision led to Japan Osprey crash, Air Force says\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"An investigation found a deadly Osprey crash resulted from pinion gear cracks and the pilot&#039;s decision to keep flying instead of heeding landing warnings.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2024\/08\/01\/gear-cracks-pilot-decision-led-to-japan-osprey-crash-air-force-says\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Navy Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-08-01T17:26:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-08T16:30:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Tara Copp, AP\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Tara Copp, AP\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\n\t    \"@context\": \"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\n\t    \"@graph\": [\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Article\",\n\t  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