THE BURNED OVER DISTRICT

All the evidence indicates that when the flying piece of crap known as the Osprey had another one of its many mechanical breakdowns.

the pilot tried an emergency roll-on landing, as if it were a conventional airplane, rather than a vertical, helicopter-type landing the Osprey is designed to perform. The pilot performed the landing so well he nearly saved the aircraft and prevented a greater loss of life, the Air Force's Accident Investigation Board concluded in the report released late Thursday.

"I think they knew they were going down and they had some kind of power problem," chief investigator Brig. Gen. Donald Harvel said in an interview with the Star-Telegram after the report was released.

The pilot, Harvel said, "made what is in my opinion a perfect roll-on landing," but the aircraft's nose landing gear collapsed and the aircraft flipped tail-over-nose when it ran into a 2-foot-deep drainage ditch.

In his report, Harvel wrote that the preponderance of evidence pointed to an engine problem.

"It is unlikely that this very experienced and competent [pilot] would have chosen to execute a roll-on landing on rough terrain if he had power available to go around and set up for another approach."

Four people died in this crash, including the pilot who performed this feat.

With the pilot dead the Brass Asses whose careers are tied to this piece of crap decided that there could not possibly be any mechanical problem with their Golden Goose so they dismissed the investigation and blamed the crash on the pilot.

Senior Air Force generals overturned the findings of their own investigation team and ruled that the fatal crash of a CV-22 Osprey in Afghanistan in April was largely due to flight crew mistakes and not a mechanical problem...

"I find the preponderance of the evidence ... does not support a determination of engine loss as a substantially contributing factor," Lt. Gen. Kurt Cichowski, vice commander of Air Force Special Operations Command, wrote in a response that stands as the official Air Force position.

Harvel said it was clear to him early on that Cichowski would not accept the findings of the Accident Investigation Board if it disagreed with the service's own internal safety report, which was done in the days immediately after the crash but was not made public.

No way their sweet little POS 22 was at fault, blame the dead guy and a little more polish on the stars.

For a contrast, read the lame ass report in The Air Force Times.