The U.S. Defense Department has issued Japan with a report concluding that the fatal crash of an MV-22 Osprey in Morocco in April was caused by pilot error, Hideo Jinpu, parliamentary secretary of the Defense Ministry, told reporters in Washington.
Following a meeting Wednesday on the conclusions of the crash investigation, the Pentagon told a press briefing the pilot apparently deviated from the tilt-rotor aircraft's operating manual and that the findings did not point to any abnormalities in the MV-22 in question, Jinpu said.
Jinpu said the pilot made a 180-degree turn downwind after takeoff and subsequently lost lift about 50 meters off the ground as the engine nacelles were rotated forward for level flight, causing the plane to pitch downward and crash. Such low-level maneuvers are restricted by the U.S. military.