Brig. Gen. Steven Kwast, commander of USAF’s 455th Air Expeditionary Wing in Afghanistan, in a videoconference with reporters Tuesday confirmed that the investigation team reviewing the April 8 crash of the CV-22 tilt-rotor aircraft had destroyed the wreckage after getting “what they needed in order to do this investigation properly.” He said a decision on “the threat and the risk” would have been made by the investigation team to determine whether it was prudent to bring the “metal back home … [or] better just to destroy it there so it cannot be used against us.” There’s been at least one media report that brownout conditions likely caused the crash, but Kwast did not speculate about the outcome of the investigation, saying “that process is ongoing.” (The crash killed four and injured several others.)
Every year, Congress and the military debate which combat assets should head to the boneyard and which have more life left in them. Lawmakers often opt to keep Air Force systems that bring jobs to their districts, which complicates matters as the service looks to modernize and ditch certain platforms.…