A major gearbox failure caused the crash of a U.S. military Osprey aircraft off the coast of Japan last year that killed eight airmen, the U.S. Air Force said, a cause similar to some previous incidents with the tilt-rotor aircraft.
An investigation by the Air Force, released Thursday, said the crash was caused by a "catastrophic” failure of the left-hand gearbox, which destabilized the aircraft. The report also said the pilots contributed to the disaster by failing to quickly divert to an emergency landing location.
The aircraft went down off Yakushima island in Kagoshima Prefecture on Nov. 29 last year, prompting the Pentagon to ground its fleet of Ospreys. Japan, the only other country to fly the aircraft, also paused its use. Both nations have since resumed flights.