MRH-90 helicopter crash: Four army aircrew killed after helicopter crashes into sea
MRH-90 helicopter crash: In another shocking and major international incident, four army aircrew members killed after the helicopter crashed into the sea.
The incident took place on Friday during the joint war-game between the Australia and the United States.
After investigation, the helicopter along with four deceased has been recovered today.
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The deceased have been identified as Captain Danniel Lyon, Lieutenant Maxwell Nugent, Warrant Officer Class Two Joseph Laycock and Corporal Alexander Naggs.
As per the sources, the crew was forced to “ditch” the MRH-90 Taipan helicopter into the sea near Hamilton Island off the east coast of Australia.
Expressing grief over death of aircrew members, Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles said, “The loss of these four men is as significant and meaningful as the loss of anyone who has worn our nation's uniform. If it is, as we imagine it to be, they died on Friday night making a difference.”
Indicating the men died in the “catastrophic” incident, Marles said, "Significant wreckage of the MRH-90 helicopter has now been located."
Marles further said the “determined recovery effort involving hundreds of defence force personnel” is underway, saying there will be a “full investigation” to understand exactly what happened.
“It has been a very difficult weekend for our nation,” Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said as he motioned the Australian parliament on Monday to mourn the servicemen who died.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin, who were both in Australia, spoke of those who went missing in the crash.
“We are thinking of the families, their friends, comrades,” Blinken said. “For everything they’ve been doing to the freedom that we share, and that is what unites us more than anything else and we are stepping up with assistance,” he added.
Notably, the crash on Friday is the second time this year the Australian Army has been forced to ditch an MRH-90 Taipan into the sea. Two injuries were also reported from the previous incident in March, which was put down to ‘engine failure’.
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In 2019 the Australian government announced it would retire its entire fleet of Airbus-manufactured Taipans years ahead of schedule, describing the Taipans as a “project of concern for the last decade,” sources reported.
- With inputs from agencies
