Friday, December 12, 2014

Bell Boeing CV-22B Osprey: Incident occurred December 12, 2014 at Double Eagle Airport, Albuquerque, New Mexico



 A CV-22 Osprey from Kirtland Air Force Base’s 58th Special Operations Wing sustained moderate damage to its nose Friday morning when the tilt-rotor aircraft’s front landing gear malfunctioned as it was setting down at Double Eagle Airport on the West Mesa, base officials said.

None of the six crewman aboard was injured.

The aircraft was damaged about 11:30 a.m. as it was concluding its third liftoff and landing exercise of the day during a regular training mission, according to the 377th Air Base Wing’s Public Affairs Office. The 58th Special Operations Wing aircraft routinely land and take off at Double Eagle during training.

A board of officers will investigate the incident, base officials said.

The 58th’s primary mission is training special operations and combat search-and-rescue crews. In addition to seven Ospreys, the wing has MC/HC-130 transport aircraft and HH-60 Pave Hawk and UH-1H Huey helicopters.

The tilt-rotor Osprey combines the vertical flight capabilities of a helicopter with the speed and range of a turboprop airplane. The Air Force “fact sheet” on an Osprey puts its value at $89 million in 2005 dollars, which would be about $104 million today.

Base officials could not immediately determine Friday whether any of the 58th Special Operations Wing’s Ospreys had experienced mishaps since they first began arriving at Kirtland in 2006.



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