Japan’s Defense Ministry says the Ground Self-Defense Force is following safety measures and closely sharing information with US forces when flying its 17 Osprey transport aircraft.
The ministry responded on Friday to a report issued by the US Air Force on its investigation into a crash of an Osprey off Yakushima Island in southwestern Japan last November. All eight crewmembers onboard died.
The report said the crash resulted from a catastrophic failure inside a gearbox of the tilt-rotor aircraft.
It also took issue with the pilot’s decisions that “unnecessarily extended the flight” after “multiple advisories and cautions” were issued about the glitch.
Japan’s Defense Ministry says the GSDF has increased the frequency of maintenance work for its Ospreys so that personnel can promptly detect any abnormalities inside the gearbox.
The ministry says the flight manual has also been revised, urging the crew to think quicker about making landings when warning lights go off in the cockpit. It says GSDF personnel have been trained with the revised manual.
The ministry adds that when Ospreys are used for flight training, the routes are set so that the aircraft stays within a certain distance of airports where they can land when emergencies occur.
The Defense Ministry says it will continue to thoroughly adopt safety measures, in response to the release of the US investigative report.