YUMA, Ariz. — The Marine Corps aircraft that crashed Wednesday near the Arizona-California border has a long history of deadly crashes, including one over two decades ago in Arizona that killed 19.
The V-22 Osprey is a tilt-rotor aircraft with two propellers that deploy vertically like a helicopter, allowing it to hover. The rotors can also pivot and deploy forward like a twin-engine prop plane, allowing it to cruise at higher speeds.
But that ability came after years of testing and years of crashes.
Wednesday's crash of an MV-22 (the Marine Corps version of the V-22) that killed 5 Marines, was the latest.
Since the Osprey's operational history beginning in 1991, 51 people have been killed in crashes of that aircraft around the world.
The deadliest crash happened in 2000 near Marana. An Osprey was flying in formation from Marine Corps Air Station Yuma when it suddenly crashed, killing all 19 Marines on board.
That crash led to the Osprey being grounded for a time before being allowed to fly again.
Former crash investigator Anthony Brickhouse, who teaches Aircraft Accident Investigation at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Florida, said those past crashes will be part of the investigation.
"We always go back and we look at the history of aircraft," Brickhouse said. "And obviously the V-22 has had some mishaps in the past that have, unfortunately, killed several service members and this is just the latest.”
The Marine Corps has not identified the 5 Marines that were killed in the crash.
An investigation team was at the crash site on Thursday but no information about the cause of the crash has been released.
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