Three U.S. Marines have been killed and 20 others seriously wounded after an Osprey aircraft crashed during a multinational military exercise in Australia on Sunday (August 27) morning.
United States Marine Corps aircraft with 23 Marines aboard crashed on Melville Island in North Australia at 9:30 a.m. local time.
Only U.S. personnel were aboard the Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey aircraft. No Australian personnel were involved in the incident.
Three U.S Marines had been confirmed dead and five were flown in serious condition 50 miles to the mainland city of Darwin for hospital treatment. Australian Northern Territory Chief Minister Natasha Fyles said that the team on the ground worked “incredibly hard” and as fast as they could to get people to treatment.
“Recovery efforts are ongoing,” the U.S. Marines said in a statement, adding the cause of the crash was under investigation.
Latest Information on the MV-22B Osprey Incident pic.twitter.com/OCeUJ6KwIe
— MRF-D (@MRFDarwin) August 27, 2023
This is the second aircraft crash in a week for the U.S. Marines. Last week, Maj. Andrew Mettler died during a training flight after his F/A-18D Hornet crashed near Miramar, California.
Condolences
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described the crash as a “regrettable incident”. He said: “Our focus as a government and as the Department of Defence is very much on incident response and on making sure that every support and assistance is given at this difficult time.”
“Australian and US personnel have stood shoulder to shoulder for more than a century. Our Alliance is built upon these enduring links and our shared values,” Australian Prime Minister Albanese and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Richard Marles said in a joint statement. “Australia will continue to provide assistance to our friends for as long as is required” the said.
An Australian Defense spokesperson said the aircraft incident occurred during Exercise Predators Run 2023, which has since been paused. More than 2,500 troops from the United States, Australia, Philippines, Timor-Leste and Indonesia are taking part in the exercise on the Tiwi Islands in the Northern Territory this year.
Second crash in Australia in a month
This is the second fatal aircraft crash in less than a month during joint exercises in northern Australia. On July 29, an MRH-90 Taipan, carrying four Australian soldiers, crashed into the sea off the coast of Queensland during Exercise Talisman Sabre — the largest bilateral military training exercise between Australia and the United States.
Osprey crash history
The Bell Boeing Osprey aircraft is a hybrid that combines characteristics of both helicopters and turbo-prop planes, enabling it to achieve much higher speeds than traditional helicopters.
However, the Osprey has a troubled history, marked by a series of fatal incidents. In June last year, an Osprey crash in the California desert near the Arizona border resulted in the deaths of all five Marines on board. In March of the same year, a separate incident during a NATO exercise led to the deaths of four Marines as an Osprey crashed near a Norwegian town in the Arctic Circle. Another incident in 2017 claimed three lives when the aircraft collided with the back of a transport ship in northern Australia.
Over the course of 33-year operational history of the Osprey, the aircraft has claimed the lives of 51 service members.
