bell-boeing cv-22b osprey (06-0031)

BELL-BOEING CV-22B OSPREY (REGISTRATION: 06-0031)
On April 9, 2010, an Osprey assigned to Air Force Special Operations Command was preparing to drop off a squad of U.S. Army Rangers in southern Afghanistan when Both engines compressor stalled, causing the Osprey to go into a steep rate of descent. The tiltrotor was traveling at least 88 miles per hour — While configuring from the airplane mode to the helicopter mode. The Osprey did not respond to the pilot advancing the TCL’s to maximum power. The pilot quickly decided to attampt a roll/on landing in the desert. He made a perfect landing. During the roll-out, the nose gear assembly sheared off the airplane, causing the nose to bury into the sand. Eventually, the Osprey tipped forward on its nose, crushing the cockpit and immediately killing the pilot and flight engineer. The airplane skidded yo a halt - upside down - on it’s back. The flipping motion was the cause of death for an Army Ranger and an Afghan female interpreter assigned to the Ranger unit.the landing zone.

According to a press interview with the investigator: a sudden tailwind was a factor in causing the compressor stalls. The main factor was “turbine glassing” caused by sand ingestion into the engines. This was NOT a pilot error accident. It was a dual engine compressor stall accident. The vapor seen coming from the engines was fuel vapor - caused by engines being in the “auto-relight” mode.

After a brief personnel recovery operation, 2 A-10’s bombed the wreckage to keep it out of militants’ hands.

20 Occupants (4 Fatalities, 16 Injured)
Civil contract employee 4th fatality