PROBE OF OSPREY CRASH DELVES INTO BLACK BOX

MARINE CORPS AIR STATION MIRAMAR — The Marine Corps is analyzing data from the black box of an MV-22B Osprey that crashed Monday in Nevada to determine why the tilt-rotor landed hard and caught fire.

The aircraft and four crew members from the San Diego-based Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 163 had been practicing landings all day, said Maj. Carl Redding, a spokesman for the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing.

The mishap during routine training in the hybrid aircraft, which can fly like a plane and land like a helicopter, occurred as it descended from a low altitude just after 3:30 p.m. Monday near Creech Air Force Base in Indian Springs, Nev., Redding said.

The crew had unbuckled and walked away from the aircraft before it caught fire on a remote landing zone on unpopulated federal land.

“Upon impact, the survivability measures designed into the MV-22B enabled all aboard to leave the aircraft without injuries,” the Marines said in a release Thursday.

The crash survivable memory unit is being analyzed as part of the ongoing investigation into the cause.

The MV-22B was unable to fly afterward. It has not been determined whether it can be salvaged, Redding said.

GRETEL C. KOVACH • U-T