HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. -- Today, Air Force Special Operations Command released an Accident Investigation Board report on an CV-22B Osprey mishap that occurred Aug. 17, 2023, at Inyokern Airfield, California. The aircraft and crew were assigned to the 27th Special Operations Wing’s 20th Special Operations Squadron, at Cannon AFB, N.M. The mishap resulted in minor injuries to one maintenance member and no fatalities or damage to civilian property. The damage to government property was valued at approximately $2.5 million.
The AIB President found by a preponderance of the evidence, two causes for the mishap. First, the mishap co-pilot failed to ensure adequate taxi clearance during ground operations, which resulted in collision with a parked aircraft. Second, there was inadequate real-time risk assessment by the mishap pilot to identify the closing proximity with the parked aircraft and the mishap pilot’s subsequent failure to take corrective action to avoid the collision.
Additionally, the AIB President found by a preponderance of the evidence the following factors which substantially contributed to the mishap: (1) complacency by both maintenance and aircrew during non-standard ground operations (2) inadequate risk management during predeployment mission planning by failing to identify hazards associated with the aircraft parking ramp, (3) lack of standard terminology and signals during ground operations, and (4) inadequate command and supervisor oversight.
The AIB report can be viewed at https://www.afjag.af.mil/AIB-Reports/ under the 2023 tab or here.
Questions can be sent to afsoc.pa.org@us.af.mil