Pilots Exonerated in Osprey Crash

The review of an internal investigation into the April 2000 crash of a V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft has exonerated the plane’s two pilots. The initial probe had determined that Maj. Brooks Gruber and Lt. Col. John Brow were at fault in the crash, which killed them and 17 other Marines, Stars and Stripes reported March 2. The accident occurred during a nighttime test flight. The initial probe determined that the two pilots made mistakes in determining safe rates of descent and airspeed. The reversal came after follow-up investigators ruled that the “an interrelated chain of events” contributed to the crash. They cited deficiencies in the aircraft’s development as equal factors to any pilot error.