February 11, 2026 at 12:02 AM
‘Hangar Queens’: Congressional Hearing Reveals Osprey Readiness Rates Declining as Mishaps Increase
While Navy and Marine Corps officials touted progress in overcoming a fatal V-22 Osprey gearbox issue that has limited operations since 2023, lawmakers lamented falling readiness rates and increasing mishaps Tuesday...
A V-22 Osprey, assigned to the “Sunhawks” of Fleet Logistics Multi-Mission Squadron (VRM) 50, prepares to land on the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71), July 26, 2025. US Navy photo While Navy and Marine Corps officials touted progress in overcoming a fatal V-22 Osprey gearbox issue that has limited operations since 2023, lawmakers lamented falling readiness rates and increasing mishaps Tuesday during a hearing on Capitol Hill. “These readiness trends are out of line with the balance of the Naval Aviation enterprise, and need to be rapidly addressed,” said Rep.
Jack Bergman(R-Mich.), who decried the number of “hangar queens” in the current Osprey fleet. The hearing, before the House Armed Services subcommittees on Seapower and Projection Forces and Readiness, came as the Government and Accountability Office released a new report showing that, for the Marine Corps and Air Force, the rate of serious accidents was higher than the average of the fixed and rotary aircraft fleet for every year except 2019. For fiscal years 2023 and 2024, it showed Class A and Class B mishap rates – those causing more than $600,000 in damage or serious injury – significantly exceeded the average.