An Air Force crew chief assigned to the 21st Special Operations Aircraft Maintenance Squadron marshals a CV-22B Osprey at Yokota Air Base, Japan, July 2, 2024. (Samantha White/U.S. Air Force)
YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan — A pair of CV-22 Ospreys from this airlift hub in western Tokyo flew to Okinawa for the first time since a deadly accident grounded the military’s entire fleet of hybrid tiltrotors in November.
The aircraft landed at Kadena Air Base on Tuesday afternoon, a spokeswoman for the Okinawa prefecture’s Military Base Affairs Division told Stars and Stripes by phone the next day. The Okinawa Defense Bureau, an arm of Japan’s Ministry of Defense, notified the prefecture of the flight, she said.
Some Japanese government officials may speak to the press only on condition of anonymity.
A spokesman for Kadena’s 353rd Special Operations Wing, Capt. Richard Caesar, acknowledged but did not immediately respond to questions about the flight on Wednesday.
An Air Force Osprey with the Yokota-based 21st Special Operations Squadron crashed Nov. 29 off Japan’s southern coast while en route to Kadena. All eight airmen aboard were killed.
As a result, the U.S. military grounded its fleet of about 400 Ospreys between Dec. 6 and March 8 while a team investigated the accident’s cause.
U.S. Marine Corps and Japan Ground Self-Defense Force Ospreys resumed flights soon after the flight ban was lifted; the Navy followed suit shortly thereafter.
The Air Force waited until July 2 to fly its Ospreys again in Japan, 216 days after the November crash.
The U.S. fleet is not permitted to fly its full range of missions until mid-2025, Vice Adm. Carl Chebi, who leads U.S. Naval Air Systems Command, told House lawmakers in June.
The Osprey can hover like a helicopter also fly as a fixed-wing aircraft by tilting its wings forward.
U.S. and Japanese Ospreys are expected to fly for the first time to Yonaguni Island, the Japanese territory closest to Taiwan, as part of the upcoming Keen Sword exercise, a spokesman for Japan’s Joint Staff told Stars and Stripes last month.
The tiltrotor flights are scheduled as part of civilian evacuation drills during the annual training, which is scheduled Oct. 23 to Nov. 1 across Japan, according to the spokesman.
Okinawa prefecture has asked the defense bureau whether the Ospreys will participate in the Keen Sword drills but haven’t heard back yet, the local official said.
