ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — 19-year-old Evan Strickland, who was from Valencia County, died during a training exercise in California in 2022. Four of his fellow U.S. Marines were also killed in the crash.

His family is now suing the makers of the aircraft, a V-22 Osprey, because of the catastrophic mechanical failure.

Strickland’s parents joined three other families in the new federal lawsuit filed Thursday. The lawsuit names Boeing, Bell Textron, and Rolls Royce who all reportedly manufactured parts on the V-22 Osprey helicopter model that crashed in California two years ago.

The lawsuit claims the manufacturers sold defective parts to the government. Reports after the crash determined human error was not the cause of the crash.

Strickland’s parents said they were notified about the equipment failure, but they never got a solid answer on what caused the equipment to fail. That’s why they joined the lawsuit.

“We felt, you know, our guys, they deserved better,” said Michelle Strickland, Evan’s mother. “And just that we all have that united common. That was the one the families that are involved in a lawsuit, we have that common ground.”

“Evan’s greatest passion wasn’t so much just the flying, you know, he looked forward to doing something worthwhile,” said Brett Strickland, Evan’s father. “He wanted to do humanitarian missions, wanted to do something positive, to make beneficial change. And unfortunately, just didn’t get that chance.”

Strickland’s parents say their main goal is to make sure the root cause of the catastrophic failure is identified and studied so it can be corrected. Since the California crash, there have been two more deadly crashes – one in Australia that killed three Marines and one in Japan that killed all eight airmen.

The military grounded all Ospreys late last year following that crash. That grounding was lifted earlier this year.