The Air Force is still not flying Osprey aircraft in Japan despite getting the green light to lift a monthslong flight hold following a deadly crash off the country's southern coast, but the Marine Corps has put its aircraft based there back in the skies.
Rebecca Heyse, an Air Force Special Operations Command spokeswoman, told Military.com on Tuesday that none of the service's units have resumed flying the Osprey yet.
In contrast, the Marine Corps' 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, which is based in Okinawa, quickly moved to fly its MV-22s, announcing a return to flight status on March 14 — less than a week after the hold was lifted, according to a statement released the same day.
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The aircraft — which is flown by the Marine Corps, Navy and Air Force — was allowed to return to flight in early March after Naval Air Systems Command and the V-22 Joint Program Office announced that they had discovered a new and not fully understood mechanical failure as part of the investigation into the Nov. 29 Air Force Osprey crash off the coast of Yakushima Island that left eight airmen dead.
The Navy doesn't have any Ospreys permanently stationed in Japan. A Navy spokesperson told Military.com on Tuesday that its CMV-22Bs based in San Diego, California, have begun the process of returning to flight.
Officials who allowed the aircraft to return to flight…
