V-22 Osprey Loose Bolts Ground Fleet – Military News

After many months of successful operations, the V-22 Osprey fleet is once again grounded. On 21 March 2009 a Marine Corps MV-22 crew in Iraq reported strange noises just after landing. During an inspection it was determined the sounds came from several bolts which were rattling around loose inside an engine nacelle. This military aviation video tells that story.

Note: We have re-published this story from our archive (March 2009) with a new version of the video and player.

The bolts are critical components that belong to the tiltrotor's swashplate assembly. The temporary grounding order effects both the Marine MV-22 and US Air Force CV-22 Osprey fleets. At first the issue was thought to only impact V-22s operating in Iraq, possibly due to the tempo of those operations.

However inspections have uncovered at least one very high time aircraft in the US with the same problem. This may mean there is a design-related flaw effecting reliability. The timing is especially unfortunate as it tarnishes the US Air Force milestone reached on 19 March 2009 of CV-22 Initial Operational Capability.