Families of Marines killed in V-22 Osprey crash demand answers as Pentagon officials testify before Congress

Following a congressional hearing on Wednesday on safety concerns about the V-22 Osprey, during which a military leader said the aircraft would face safety restrictions through 2025, grieving families of fallen soldiers expressed their frustration over unanswered questions and demanded accountability in an interview with ABC News.

Throughout the hearing, members of the House National Security Subcommittee peppered witnesses at the Pentagon with questions about the plane’s deadly past.

“The total death toll I’m tracking is 54 dead … and 93 injured,” said Vice Admiral Carl Chebi, head of the U.S. Naval Air Systems Command, which oversees the Osprey for the entire U.S. military.

After a series of fatal V-22 crashes between 2022 and 2023, Chebi decided to halt Osprey flights to give investigators time to identify potential problems and develop safety recommendations. The military lifted the flight ban in early 2024 after implementing several new protocols and restrictions.

In June 2022, five Marines were killed when a clutch problem caused the right engine of their V-22 to fail during a training flight over Glamis, California, a military investigation found. Some of the changes resulting from Chebi’s safety pause were intended to address that problem by giving flight crews updated protocols for dealing with clutch problems and by proactively replacing key parts before they could become too worn out.

But on Wednesday, Chebi said the risk posed by the clutch problem could not be eliminated until a redesign was completed, which could take more than a year, and that he would not lift restrictions on Osprey flights until then.

“I will not re-certify the V-22 for full flight until I am satisfied that we have adequately addressed the issues that could affect the safety of the aircraft. Based on the data I have today, I do not expect that to happen before mid-2025,” he said.

Chebi said he had also ordered a comprehensive review of the Pentagon’s Osprey program, which will take another six to nine months.

Several family members of Marines killed in the 2022 tragedy traveled to attend Wednesday’s hearing, holding photographs of their deceased loved ones in their seats directly behind the witnesses.

“The families have asked some questions that we were hoping to get answered,” Amber Sax, wife of Captain John Sax, told ABC News after the hearing. “Not all of them were answered. I would say the majority, unfortunately, were not answered.”

Sax would also like answers from the Osprey manufacturers. And she is not alone.

Last month, she and family members of the other Marines who died in the 2022 disaster filed a wrongful death lawsuit in federal court. The plaintiffs are Boeing, Rolls Royce and Bell Textron, all of which are involved in producing the planes.

The companies have stated that they cannot comment on pending litigation.

“We have a lot of questions for them that I hope they will answer and that will come to light,” Sax said. “And I think they are the people who should be in those seats next time.”

“We don’t want anyone else to have to go through what we’ve been going through for the last two years. Something has to change. Something definitely has to change,” said Michelle Strickland, the mother of Lance Cpl. Evan Strickland, who was 19 when he died in the crash.

Evans’ father agreed.

“We stand together as families to hold accountable those who owe us answers,” said Brett Strickland. “We must be their voice, because they no longer have one.”

While the military has other aircraft that could potentially take on the missions currently performed by the V-22, the Osprey is unique in its ability to take off and land vertically like a helicopter and to fly as fast as a conventional aircraft by changing the angle of its propellers.

Timothy Loranger, an attorney with the Wisner Baum law firm who represents the families, joined lawmakers in arguing that the military should prioritize safety and replace the Ospreys with helicopters until other problems are resolved.

“They should consider, as requested, grounding the aircraft and using an alternative platform such as the CH-53 (helicopter) or something else that they know is reliable,” Loranger said.

The Gold Star families who spoke to ABC News after the hearing spoke about the strong character of their lost loved ones.

“He was kind, he was so genuine… he had such a zest for life. Everything was like an adventure for him… He was just so genuine and a pure spirit,” Michelle Strickland said of her son.

His father talked about the lengths the young Marine would go for his friends, from walking miles in the dark to be there for someone after a breakup to “just lightening the mood a little bit with that kind of nonsense.”

Amber Sax said of her late husband: “John grew up with a love of flying. He loved his family very much. He loved his country very much.”

The family members are not interested in getting rid of the Osprey their loved ones have flown; they just want it to fly as well as it can.

“A few months before we lost John, we celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary with an ultrasound to see our youngest daughter, who was born three months after his death,” Sax said in written testimony submitted to the House Oversight Committee ahead of Wednesday’s hearing.

Immediately after the hearing, she told ABC News: “I want to be able to take my daughters to an air show one day. John loved going to air shows and he would have taken them if he were still here. And I want them to be able to see an osprey fly and say, ‘That’s flying because my father and other brave people made it safer for them to fly.'”