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The Marine Corps and Air Force’s Osprey fleets have had more “serious accidents” in the previous two fiscal years on average than compared to the past eight, according to newly published analysis by government auditors. “In fiscal years 2023 and 2024, 18 serious, non-combat accidents occurred involving death; permanent disability; extensive hospitalization; property damage of $600,000 or more; or a destroyed aircraft,” auditors wrote in a new Government Accountability Office report. “Rates of serious accidents were between 36 percent and 88 percent higher than each service’s average rate for the prior 8 fiscal years.” The report didn’t elaborate what caused accident rates to climb specifically in recent years, but GAO said program staffers attributed V-22’s higher rate relative to other aircraft as it being a first-generation tiltrotor aircraft and the plane’s “complex and expensive components, which, when damaged, result in higher accident classes by cost.”

GAO was prompted to produce the report at the behest of a House committee that sought auditors’ opinions on trends in Osprey incidents, the extent to which the program office and services have taken steps to identify and resolve issues and discuss how the services proliferate safety information. Variants of the V-22 Osprey are flown by the Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force. The unique tiltrotor aircraft combines the capabilities of a helicopter and turboprop plane which the Pentagon uses largely for troop and cargo movements. A series of lethal accidents in recent years have raised intense scrutiny by both lawmakers and outside observers of the plane’s safety record, and resulted in the Pentagon revealing several defects in the aircraft itself. “Osprey program stakeholders have not fully identified, analyzed, or responded with procedural or materiel mitigations to all safety risks,” according to the GAO report. “For example, program stakeholders, which include the Osprey Joint Program Office and military services that operate the aircraft, had closed 45 risk assessments at the time of our review, but had not fully responded to 34 known system-related risks related to the potential failure of airframe and engine components.”

In its totality, the report gives only minor credit to the Pentagon for more recent initiatives to comprehensively address the aircraft’s problems, but states the Defense Department has not done enough to ensure the plane’s safety and airworthiness moving forward. Government auditors made a series of recommendations to the Pentagon concerning how the program identifies, analyzes and responds to safety risks, establishes an oversight structure to ensure timely resolution and how the services implement process to routinely share relevant safety data. In a letter contained in the report, Peter Belk, acting assistant secretary of defense for readiness, concurred with all of GAO’s recommendations. “As a Department, it is our duty to protect our military’s most valuable asset, our people,” Belk wrote in response to one recommendation. “The Secretary of Defense will ensure the Secretary of the Navy, and the Secretary of the Air Force continually underscore the importance of safety at every level to ensure an environment where safety and risk management are essential and integrated parts of our operations.”

Navy Says It Remains ‘Committed’

The GAO’s report was not the only V-22 report to be released today, as Naval Air Systems Command released findings of what it called a “comprehensive review” of the aircraft. That review, originally ordered in September 2023, “reaffirmed the airworthiness of the V-22 platform under established controls allowing the continued safe operations of this critical joint capability.” The review identified “32 actions” to “improve saftey and readiness,” and Naval Air Systems Command leader Vice Adm. John Dogherty said in a video posted online the NAVAIR and the V-22 program office have “initiated clear, enforceable action plans to drive these issues to closure.” “The V-22 delivers unmatched operational flexibility for the Department of Defense,” he said, adding that through its mitigation efforts, the Navy is “committed” to the program. Still, the Navy report warned, “If the V-22 enterprise fails to take immediate and decisive action on the findings in this report, the existing risk mitigation timelines will increase the likelihood of a risk materializing, potentially resulting in catastrophic outcomes, including both fatal and non-fatal consequences.”