Ten civilians and U.S. Marines killed developing the V-22 Osprey:
- Lieutenant Colonel John A. Brow
- Lance Corporal Jason T. Duke
- Private First Class Keoki P. Santos
- Patrick J. Sullivan
- Anthony J. Stecyk, Jr.
- Lieutenant Colonel Keith M. Sweaney
- Robert L. Rayburn
- Staff Sergeant William B. Nelson
- Gerald W. Mayan
- Sergeant Jose Alvarez, Jr.
Earlier this evening, I started reading The Dream Machine: The Untold History of the Notorious V-22 Osprey, which is dedicated to the memory of the ten men listed above and the other 20 killed during the development of aircraft. I remember this being quite controversial back when I was working as a legislative correspondent on Capitol Hill; it was years behind schedule and wildly over budget, and it had a annoying habit of crashing. The first fatal crash, which took the lives of nos. 4, 5, 7, and 9 above, as well as those of three others, happened in July 1992, prompting a flood of mail complaining about the program, most of which ended up crossing my desk. Good times. It would seem they've worked out most of the problems now, though I for one am not convinced it was worth the cost.
