All Marine Aircraft Wing units will conduct a one-day safety standdown sometime between June 21 and July 1, according to a Marine Corps Administrative message released Monday.
“The Marine Corps has had six Class-A mishaps since January 2022, resulting in nine fatalities and the destruction of four aircraft,” read the message. “Now is an appropriate time to take a day to conduct a Safety Stand-Down, review best practices, and focus on areas where we can improve in order to ensure our units remain capable, safe, and ready.”
The standdown will focus on reinforcing proper procedures, providing information and gathering feedback, according to the message.
Standdowns during the listed window will be held to minimally impact previous operational commitments, according to the message.
On June 8, five Marines died in an MV-22B Osprey crash in a remote training approximately 115 miles east of San Diego, California near Glamis.
The members of Marine Medium Tiltrotor (VMM) Squadron 364, Marine Aircraft Group 39, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, out of Camp Pendleton, California, were identified following family notifications:
- Lance Cpl. Evan A. Strickland, 19, of Valencia, New Mexico, tiltrotor crew chief.
- Cpl. Nathan E. Carlson, 21, of Winnebago, Illinois, tiltrotor crew chief.
- Cpl. Seth D. Rasmuson, 21, of Johnson, Wyoming, tiltrotor crew chief.
- Capt. John J. Sax, 33, of Placer, California, an MV-22B pilot.
- Capt. Nicholas P. Losapio, 31, of New Durham, New Hampshire, an MV-22B pilot.
June’s Osprey crash followed a fatal crash of another tiltrotor aircraft near Norway on March 18, which killed these four Marines:
- Capt. Ross A. Reynolds, 27, of Leominster, Massachusetts.
- Capt. Matthew J. Tomkiewicz, 27, of Fort Wayne, Indiana.
- Gunnery Sgt. James W. Speedy, 30, of Cambridge, Ohio.
- Cpl. Jacob M. Moore, 24, of Catlettsburg, Kentucky.
The Marine Corps’ sister service held its own “safety pause” on Monday.
Navy Times reported ahead of that safety pause that units would review risk management practices and train “on threat and error-management processes.”
“In order to maintain the readiness of our force, we must ensure the safety of our people remains one of our top priorities,” the command statement said.
A Navy MH-60S Seahawk assigned to Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 3 crashed near El Centro, California on June 16 during a routine training flight, injuring one of four crew members, Navy Times reported.
On June 3, F/A-18E Super Hornet pilot Navy Lt. Richard Bullock, of Strike Fighter Squadron 113, died in a crash during training.
Todd South has written about crime, courts, government and the military for multiple publications since 2004 and was named a 2014 Pulitzer finalist for a co-written project on witness intimidation. Todd is a Marine veteran of the Iraq War.
