Tiltrotor Landed Safely After Incident

Military officials are now investigating an Air Force-spec Bell V-22 Osprey tiltrotor after it suffered extensive damage to its engines after ingesting ice in flight during a thunderstorm last month.

The damage -- which did not cause the engines to stall, allowing the crew to make an precautionary landing near Prescott, AZ -- may require repairs costing as much as $1 million to return the bird to flight, according to media reports. The incident occurred as a Defense Contract Management agency team was delivering the test aircraft (not a production model) from Bell's facility in Amarillo, TX to Edwards AFB, CA.

"There is a mishap investigation ongoing," said James Darcy, spokesman for the V-22 Joint Program Office.

What may be most important, though, is not how much this incident will cost to repair -- but instead, the fact the V-22 incurred such damage but still managed to bring its crew safely down to the ground. The safety record Osprey has been especially scrutinized since 23 Marines died in a pair of V-22 accidents during flight tests in 2000.

Over the next five years, several Osprey systems were redesigned -- and flight training programs were revised -- in response to the accidents. The final production version of the aircraft was approved by the Pentagon last September.

FMI: www.bellhelicopter.com/en/aircraft/military/bellV-22.cfm