Families of Camp Pendleton Marines killed in Osprey crash sue manufacturer

The families of four of the five Camp Pendleton-based Marines killed in a 2022 Osprey crash filed a wrongful death lawsuit Thursday against the aircraft’s makers, claiming the companies were aware of the vehicle’s mechanical defects that ultimately contributed to the soldiers’ deaths.

The lawsuit names Boeing, Bell Textron, Rolls-Royce Corp. and Rolls-Royce North America as defendants, arguing that the companies failed to fix known problems that allegedly caused the June 8, 2022 crash near Glamis.

The following people died in the crash:

— Captain John J. Sax, 33, of Placer, California;

— Captain Nicholas P. Losapio, 31, of Rockingham, New Hampshire;

— Cpl. Nathan E. Carlson, 21, of Winnebago, Illinois;

— Cpl. Seth D. Rasmuson, 21, of Johnson, Wyoming;

— Lance Cpl. Evan A. Strickland, 19, of Valencia, New Mexico.

All families except Losapio are plaintiffs in the case.

A Marine Corps investigation found that the crash was caused by a mechanical problem that had long plagued the Osprey and was the result of a “hard clutch engagement.”

All Ospreys in the military were grounded in December after eight Air Force service members were killed in a crash off the coast of Japan. The crash remains under investigation.

The military resumed use of the Ospreys in March after what it said were “maintenance and procedural improvements.”

Lawyers for the families say there have been 62 fatalities in accidents since Osprey aircraft entered service, including three Marines in Australia and eight U.S. Air Force crew members in Japan last year. They also say there have been six hard-engagement incidents since the June 8, 2022 crash.

Ari Friedman is one of the lawyers representing the families in the lawsuit. He said one of the goals of the lawsuit is to force the manufacturers to finally fix the Osprey’s problems.

“We’ve heard from vendors that they’re responding to all these crashes by developing workarounds,” Friedman said. “But the question that’s still in the back of my mind is why these crashes are happening. And no one has an answer to that yet.”

Friedman said the families hope no one will have to go through this again.

“They want to make these aircraft safer so that things like this don’t happen and future Marines and their families don’t have to go through what they went through,” he said.

Since March 2022, 20 US soldiers have been killed in four separate Osprey crashes.