BERNARD SHAW, CNN ANCHOR: There's a new development in the investigation of the crash of a U.S. Marine Osprey aircraft last month. For that, we go to our military affairs correspondent Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon -- Jamie.</s>JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN MILITARY AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Bernie, if you ask Marine Corps officials, they'll tell you that the investigation is not complete and no conclusions have been reached. But Pentagon sources tell CNN investigators now believe pilot error was, in fact, the cause of the deadly accident that killed 19 Marines during an exercise in the Arizona desert last month. The Marines have acknowledged the pilot brought the tilt rudder aircraft down too fast without enough forward motion, resulting in a loss of lift under the right rotor, which caused the aircraft to pitch to the right and crash into the runway. At the stick was Major John Brow (ph), an experienced pilot, with more than 3,700 flying hours, although mostly in fixed-wing aircraft like the C-130. In the V-22, he had just 85 hours and another 100 hours in a flight simulator. Weary that V-22 critics may accuse the Marine Corps of blaming the pilot to save its pet project, investigators don't want to release any findings until they are absolutely sure. The next step is to try to confirm the pilot error theory by recreating the accident conditions with two test planes at high altitude where there's plenty of space to recover. Jamie McIntyre, CNN, live at the Pentagon.
Pentagon Says Pilot Error May Have Caused Crash of Osprey Aircraft Which Killed 19 Marines