WASHINGTON — The Pentagon will lift the ban on flights by the grounded V-22 Osprey next week, U.S. officials told The Associated Press on Friday, following a high-level meeting where Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin endorsed the military services’ plans for a protected and measured return to operations.
The officials said that Naval Air Systems Command, which grounded the controversial tilt-rotor aircraft about three months ago, will lift it and permit the services to start implementing their plans to get the Osprey back into the air. Austin met with the highest service leaders, including for the Navy and Air Force, on Friday morning, in accordance with the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to debate plans not yet made public.
The Osprey has been grounded for nearly three months following a Nov. 29 Air Force Special Operations Command crash in Japan that killed eight service members. The Japan incident and an earlier August Osprey crash in Australia that killed three Marines are each still under investigation. The Air Force has said that it has identified what failed within the Japan crash, despite the fact that it doesn’t know yet why it failed.
The choice to finish the flight ban is as much as Naval Air Systems Command, but Austin had asked for an informational briefing on the matter due to significant safety concerns and the undeniable fact that three of the services and a critical ally are involved in this system. While Austin doesn’t have approval authority within the return to flight process, U.S. officials said his endorsement of the services’ plan was considered a key step.
Within the months since, the services have worked on plans to mitigate the known material failure by conducting additional safety checks and establishing a brand new, more conservative approach to how the Osprey is operated.