WASHINGTON (AP) — Japan has grounded its fleet of V-22 Osprey aircraft again after an incident last Sunday where one of the hybrid helicopter-aircraft tilted unexpectedly and hit the ground while trying to take off.
The V-22 was taking part in the joint U.S. military exercise Keen Sword and carrying 16 passengers, including three U.S. service members. During takeoff it “became unstable as it swayed from side to side, and the left wing, the lower part of the aircraft came into contact with the ground and part of the aircraft was damaged, so the flight was aborted," Japan's Ground Self Defense Forces said in a statement.
It was the first major incident involving Japan's V-22 fleet since a U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command Osprey crash last November off the coast of Japan killed eight service members and led to a monthslong grounding of the entire fleet for both Japan and the U.S.
The aircraft resumed flight operations earlier this year, but the Osprey’s use remains controversial particularly in Okinawa, where residents have questioned its safety record.
The Osprey in last Sunday's incident was able to land and no one was injured, however Japan will keep its fleet of more than a dozen V-22s grounded while it investigates the incident, Defense Minister Gen Nakatani told reporters last week.
“We believe there is no safety problem with Ospreys, although ensuring flight safety is a prerequisite for aircraft operations,” Nakatani said.
The Pentagon's V-22 joint program office is supporting Japan's investigation into the incident, spokesman Neil Lobeda said Saturday.
The V-22 was operating on the Japanese island of Yonaguni during the joint exercise Keen Sword. Yonaguni is only 100 kilometers (62 miles) east of Taiwan.
Yamaguchi reported from Tokyo
FILE - U.S. MV-22 Osprey transport aircraft are parked at the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Ginowan, south of Okinawa, southern Japan, Sept. 6, 2023. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae, File)
Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder speaks during a press briefing at the Pentagon on Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024 in Washington. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)
NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — The developers of a Virginia offshore wind project are asking a federal judge to block a Trump administration order that halted construction of their project, along with four others, over national security concerns.
Dominion Energy Virginia said in its lawsuit filed late Tuesday that the government's order is “arbitrary and capricious” and unconstitutional. The Richmond-based company is developing Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind, a project it says is essential to meet dramatically growing energy needs driven by dozens of new data centers.
The Interior Department did not detail the security concerns in blocking the five projects on Monday. In a letter to project developers, Interior's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management set a 90-day period — and possibly longer — “to determine whether the national security threats posed by this project can be adequately mitigated.”
The other projects are the Vineyard Wind project under construction in Massachusetts, Revolution Wind in Rhode Island and Connecticut and two projects in New York: Sunrise Wind and Empire Wind. Democratic governors in those states have vowed to fight the order, the latest action by the Trump administration to hobble offshore wind in its push against renewable energy sources.
Dominion's project has been under construction since early 2024 and was scheduled to come online early next year, providing enough energy to power about 660,000 homes. The company said the delay was costing it more than $5 million a day in losses solely for the ships used in round-the-clock construction, and that customers or the company would eventually bear the cost.
Dominion called this week's order “the latest in a series of irrational agency actions attacking offshore wind and then doubling down when those actions are found unlawful.”
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management didn't immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
U.S. District Judge Jamar Walker set a hearing for 2 p.m. Monday on Dominion's request for a temporary restraining order.
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Wind turbine bases, generators and blades are positioned along with support ships at The Portsmouth Marine terminal at the staging area for Dominion Energy's wind turbine project Monday Dec. 22, 2025, in Portsmouth, Va. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)
