Joe sent me this story (thanks buddy) and although it dates back from last year I somehow missed it. Its written by David Axe for Wired and its compelling. READ it!
Quite honestly I despise the spokesman's account of the incident as not being a "serious flying accident."
They're playing word games.
Its cute if you're a guy and girl playing a dating game.
Its acceptable if you're a low life lawyer or Congressman (well not really but lets say expected).
Its totally unacceptable if you're a US Marine. Higher standards and all that other jazz.
We (the USMC) need to get our house in order. This is sad. Pathetic. Unacceptable. And how this didn't get bigger air time is beyond me.
On March 27, 2006, at a Marine Corps air base in New River, North Carolina, an MV-22 assigned to Medium Tiltrotor Training Squadron 204 experienced an unplanned surge in engine power as the three-man crew was preparing for a flight. “That caused the aircraft to inadvertently lift off the deck approximately 30 feet,” Marine spokesman Maj. Shawn Haney explained. “It came back down … there was major damage sustained to the right wing and the right engine.”Quite honestly I didn't like the way David characterized a potentially life threatening situation as a joy ride...but I get it. He was probably frustrated at the insanity of it all.
Luckily, the three crewmembers were unhurt. The cost to repair the self-flying Osprey totaled $7,068,028, according to the Naval Safety Center, which tracks all Navy and Marine aircraft mishaps. An investigation by the Navy and manufacturers Bell and Boeing resulted in tweaks to the V-22′s engine controls.
Yet the Marines and the Naval Safety Center ultimately decided that the Osprey’s dangerous joyride didn’t count as a serious flying accident, known in Pentagon parlance as a “Class A flight mishap.” The reason, said Capt. Brian Block, a Marine spokesman: The aircraft wasn’t supposed to take off just then; therefore, it’s not a flight problem. If a V-22 suffers damage while preparing to launch or after landing, or if the crew does not explicitly command the aircraft to take off but it does anyways, then the accident doesn’t count as a flight accident.
Quite honestly I despise the spokesman's account of the incident as not being a "serious flying accident."
They're playing word games.
Its cute if you're a guy and girl playing a dating game.
Its acceptable if you're a low life lawyer or Congressman (well not really but lets say expected).
Its totally unacceptable if you're a US Marine. Higher standards and all that other jazz.
We (the USMC) need to get our house in order. This is sad. Pathetic. Unacceptable. And how this didn't get bigger air time is beyond me.