MAY 17, 2015
BELLOWS AIR FORCE
STATION, WAIMANALO, HAWAII
According to two
unnamed sources, one Marine died in an MV-22 Osprey aircraft hard-landing
incident Sunday morning at Bellows Air Force Station. Bellows Air Force Station is a United
States military reservation located in Waimanalo, Hawaii. The price tag of an Osprey MV-22 is at least
$100 million dollars. Ouch.
At least twelve Marines were injured in an MV-22 Osprey
aircraft “hard-landing mishap,” which occurred at about 11 a.m. when the
aircraft from the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit was conducting training,
according to a news release issued the U.S. Marine Corps.
The Marine Corps said in a brief statement that 22 people
were aboard the MV-22 Osprey from the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit when it
had a "hard-landing mishap" during a training exercise. It gave no
cause for the incident.
The Marines initially said 12 Marines were injured. After
confirming the deatgh, it said only that all 21 of the others had been taken to
hospitals for assessment and treatment.
Military, police, fire and Emergency Medical Service
personnel are responding to the scene at Bellows station in the Waimanalo area.
The injured Marines were transported to a local hospital for treatment.
Residents in the Kailua, Keolu Hills and Enchanted Lake
areas reported seeing heavy fire and plumes of thick, black smoke rising from
the Bellows area. Bellows is used as a
training area for Marines.
Marine Corps Forces
Pacific is hosting 23 foreign nations at the inaugural U.S. Pacific Command
Amphibious Leaders Symposium, starting Sunday and wrapping up Thursday in
Hawaii. Senior military leaders of allied and partner nations are expected to
attend.
The amphibious
symposium, with the acronym PALS, will include group briefings and discussions,
scenario-based exercises, and observation of an amphibious landing and other
sea-basing exercises.
It was unclear
whether the downed helicopter had been participating in the symposium exercise.
The Marine Corps’
distinctive MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft made its first appearance in
Hawaii nearly two years ago.
The 57-foot-long
aircraft have twin 38-foot propellers that allow the Osprey to take off like a
helicopter and fly like a conventional plane with the blades rotated forward.
Ospreys can carry 24 Marines twice as fast and five times farther than previous
helicopters.
Two squadrons of
Ospreys, a total of 24 aircraft, are scheduled to be based at Kaneohe Bay in
fiscal 2015 and 2016.