An investigation is underway after two U.S. service members were injured when a Coalition aircraft executed a hard landing in the Middle East on Friday, a statement from the U.S.-led Coalition said.
“The two were evaluated for non-life threatening injuries and quickly transported to a medical treatment facility, where they were seen and released,” the statement said, adding that other passengers and crew were uninjured and no other casualties were reported on the ground.
According to reports, the incident occurred in Syria and involved a Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft which was completely destroyed in the landing. Ospreys are operated by both the U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Airforce, but it is not yet known which branch was operating the craft.
BREAKING: US military Osprey aircraft crashed in Syria today, 2 service members have minor injuries, aircraft completely destroyed: official
— Lucas Tomlinson (@LucasFoxNews) September 29, 2017
The Osprey is a multi-mission, tiltrotor military aircraft designed to combine the functionality of a conventional helicopter with the in-flight performance of a turboprop aircraft. Its propellors operate in the horizontal plane for take-off and landing and rotate to the vertical vertical plane for level flight.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUNJTAybCQQ
The aircraft has suffered a string of incidents in recent years.
Most recently, in January, an MV-22 experienced a hard landing during a raid in Al Bayda, Yemen injuring three U.S. troops. The aircraft was so badly damaged it was later destroyed by U.S. airstrikes.
On August 9, the USMC announced it was lifting an “operational pause” for the aircraft assigned to the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, after an Osprey crash three days earlier off the coast of Australia resulted in the deaths of three Marines.
Last December, a U.S. Marine Corps MV-22 Osprey crashed off the coast of Okinawa, Japan.
