A US Marine Corps MV-22 Osprey has crashed during a training exercise in Morocco, killing two Marines.
The US State Department confirmed the fatal crash but has so far released few details. The incident occurred during a bilateral training exercise known as ‘African Lion’, which includes about 1000 US Marines and 200 personnel from other US military services. Agence France-Presse reported that the Osprey crashed in the Ouad Daraa region about 885km from Rabat.
The aircraft was from the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit based at Camp Lajeune in the US state of North Carolina.
After suffering several high profile crashes early in its lifespan, the tiltrotor Osprey has enjoyed the best safety record of any Marine Corps rotorcraft over the past decade. The last fatal Osprey crash occurred in April 2010 when an Air Force CV-22 hit a ditch and flipped onto its back after a hard landing in Afghanistan, killing four of 18 on board.
