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A US Marine died after heroically re-entering a crashed and burning US MV-228 Osprey aircraft to save aircrew, according to information published by an official US Marine Corps investigation into the incident in Australia.
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The US Marine Corps command investigation detailed the circumstances of the crash of a Marine MV-22B Osprey, which killed three military personnel, north of Darwin on 27 August last year.
The aircraft was a member of the Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 363. The aircraft crashed into the wooded brush of Melville Island while participating in the Australian Defence Force-led exercise Predator’s Run, resulting in the deaths of Marine pilots Major Tobin Lewis, Captain Eleanor LeBeau, and Marine Corporal Spencer Collart.
The investigation found that Corporal Collart returned to the burning aircraft in an effort to save members of the aircrew. Twenty Marines survived the crash.
“As evidenced by the investigative findings, Corporal Collart’s courageous and heroic act of re-entering the burning cockpit at great personal and fatal risk of his own life in an effort to save Major Lewis and Captain LeBeau displayed extraordinary physical courage,” US Commander Lieutenant General Michael S. Cederholm said.
“I would like to express my sincerest condolences and deepest sympathies to the families, friends, and loved ones of Major Lewis, Captain LeBeau, and Corporal Collart. The Marines and Sailors of both I Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF) and III MEF mourn their tragic passing and your devastating loss.
“We offer our sincerest thoughts and prayers for our injured.”
An investigative team appointed to investigate the circumstances of the crash found that the primary causal factor for the mishap was pilot error and that several concerning maintenance practices should never have certified the aircraft as safe-for-flight that day.
The final report also found problems with the pre-flight procedures, though were not the direct cause of the crash. The Osprey aircraft had an excess of 2,000 pounds of fuel on take-off as it flew in formation, according to the report.
The report detailed that two Osprey aircraft were flying in formation when a speed reduction resulted in Lewis and LeBeau's Osprey banking dramatically before stalling and going nose down as it approached the ground. A recovery was attempted to level the aircraft at the last moment before the crash.
