The U.S. Marines have grounded all aviation units for a 24-hour period in order to conduct an operational reset, during which time no flight operations will take place, the Marines said Friday.
This includes all Marine Corps aircraft, including helicopters, fixed-wing planes and tilt-rotor aircraft.
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“This operational reset will occur within the next two weeks and will be taken at the discretion of commanders, based on their unit’s operational commitments, to focus on the fundamentals of safe flight operations, standardization and combat readiness. The intent is for flying squadrons to review selected incidents which occurred enterprise-wide and study historical examples of completed investigations in order to bring awareness and best practices to the fleet,” said General Robert B. Neller, Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps.
Pauses in operations are not uncommon, the Marines said; they “are viewed as a responsible step to refresh and review best practices and procedures so our units remain capable, safe, and ready.”
An MV-22 Osprey crashed off the coast of Australia this month. Three Marines died and 23 other personnel were involved in the crash.
And, in July, 16 service members died when a KC-130 plane crashed, seemingly disintegrating mid-air and crashing in a soybean field in Mississippi.
Both incidents were considered mishaps.
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