Lt. Gen. Tony Bauernfeind, Air Force Special Operations Commander, convened a Safety Investigation Board (SIB) and Accident Investigation Board (AIB) in response to the November 29, 2023 CV-22 mishap near Yakushima, Japan. The Safety Investigation is for internal military mishap prevention, while the Accident Investigation is for broader release. Both investigations are still actively in progress and analysis is on-going to determine the cause of the mishap.
At this time, the material failure that occurred is known but the cause of the failure has not been determined. Engineering testing and analysis is ongoing to understand the cause of the material failure, a critical part of the investigation. Any disclosure of findings prior to investigations being finalized is premature and presumptive. As final Safety Investigation findings and recommendations are received, the priority is to inform our deliberate return to fly and ensure CV-22 aircrew and maintainers have the information they need to prevent future mishaps.
Once the Accident Investigation is complete, the Board President will provide an in-person briefing to the families of the fallen before the report is publicly released.
AFSOC remains in close coordination with the V-22 Joint Program Office and other stakeholders to collaboratively assess when a change in the status of the operational standdown will occur.
Our priority remains the safety of our aircrew and maintainers and supporting those impacted by the mishap.