One Marine was recovered relatively quickly. The other was not, however, and the Navy and Marine Corps had been searching for him since with ships, aircraft and smaller boats. He has not been identified by the military yet.
Both Marines were members of the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit of Camp Pendleton, Calif., which is in the Middle East as part of the three-ship, 4,00o-troop Makin Island Amphibious Ready Group. It is expected to be relieved soon by the Bataan ARG, a similar unit, as part of regular troop rotations.
The cause of the problem with the aircraft is unclear. The Marine Corps has been trying to shake off the reputation that the MV-22 is unreliable and difficult to fly after a troubled development history that included numerous deadly crashes.
The Osprey has become a workhorse since then, deploying to Iraq from 2007 to 2009 and to Afghanistan since. It also has been added to President Obama’s fleet of aircraft, Marine Corps Helicopter Squadron One, to fly support missions.
