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The Air Force has grounded its V22 Osprey’s for a ‘hard clutch’ problem which makes them too dangerous to fly, citing two recent incidents in the last six weeks and two more since 2017.<\/p>\n
\nHard clutch engagement occurs when the clutch connecting the propeller\u2019s rotor gear box to its engine slips. When this happens, Ospreys are designed to transfer the power load from that engine to the other engine immediately, which would allow it to keep operating if an engine failed.<\/p>\n
In these incidents, the clutch on the original gear box has engaged and the power load transferred back, within a span of milliseconds. The large transfer of torque causes the Osprey to lurch, and the air crews land immediately.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Defense News<\/a><\/p>\n
The Marines, who log the most flight hours in V22s (533,000 of the 680,000 logged by the Corps, Navy, and Air Force combined), say they have been aware of this issue since 2010.<\/p>\n
The Corps said that it’s known about the problem since 2010 and its pilots can handle it, with one service official calling the issues “common knowledge.”<\/p>\n
“Hard clutch issue has been known to the Marine Corps since 2010, and as such, we have trained our pilots to react with the appropriate emergency control measures should the issue arise during flight,”<\/p>\n
Stenger, in his statement, noted that, in all those flight hours, there has not been “a single catastrophic event contributed to this hazard.”<\/p>\n
“Simply by doing hover checks significantly reduces the exposure to this incident,” the official explained, referring to a procedure of hovering roughly 30 feet off the ground while looking over the aircraft’s instruments.<\/p>\n
Marine Corps officials said that they have shared their knowledge about how to handle the issue with both the Navy and the Air Force as incidents occurred “via various formal and informal methods of communication regularly.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n