Always has been. 62 deaths, about half during initial testing and development. Over 33 years, that's averaging nearly 1.9 deaths per year. And these aren't combat deaths (like an aircraft brought down by enemy fire). Mostly training and exercises.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accidents_and_incidents_involv...

They seem to be a common part of the Airforce One entourage. When the President is in the SF Bay Area, I see these commonly fly over residential areas. Given their history and the apparent unexplained failure, this has always struck me as unwise.

Basically the plane is susceptible to a mechanical failure known as Hard Clutch Engagement which causes it to immediately drop out of the sky. And the manufacturers not only can’t fix it but don’t even know what causes it. But it’s still being flown. How is this possible?

I remember when the program started. The vehicle killed many soldiers, some as it was being tested. It is flying garbage. They deserved better.

I understand the strategic strengths of this design, but an airplane-helicopter hybrid that can neither glide nor autorotate after an engine failure is a death trap.

In case you are wondering, the article is about an aircraft by Bell Boeing called MV-22B Osprey, not the backpacks and travel gear company.

Or the bird also known as a seahawk

Seahawks are $47M USD while an Osprey is $71M. ;)

I haven't tried to fly off the ground with a backpack before except using PPG. Have you? Of the backpacks I check while flying commercially, I prefer a Nordace MOLLE with USB passthrough.

It's Boeing. What do you expect? Their entire fleet since their historical merger needs to be gutted.

My former Marine ex-roommate said that 20 years ago. It's a fucking expensive, military-industrial complex boondoggle and deathtrap. NASA built one and then Marine buyers were enamored by shiny features.