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Three US Marines have died and 5 others are in hospital with accidents after an Osprey plane crashed throughout warfare video games on a distant island north of Darwin on Sunday, US army officers mentioned.
5 Marines had been rescued from the crash website and flown to a hospital in Darwin in a “severe situation”, the US officers mentioned, whereas Australian police mentioned they had been triaging the remainder of the injured crew on the scene.
“There have been a complete of 23 personnel on board,” US army officers mentioned in a press release.
“Three have been confirmed deceased whereas 5 others had been transported to Royal Darwin Hospital in a severe situation.”
Rescue efforts had been sophisticated by the situation of the crash — the distant and sparsely populated Melville Island about 60km north of the Australian mainland.
“Restoration efforts are ongoing,” US officers mentioned, including that an investigation into the reason for the incident had been launched.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described the incident as “tragic” and “regrettable” however burdened that authorities had been nonetheless attempting to piece collectively what occurred.
“We wish to be sure that any info that’s supplied is totally correct,” he informed reporters.
RSL Australia President Greg Melick referred to as the deaths a tragedy.
“It is a catastrophic occasion, and we categorical our sympathy to the chums, households, and colleagues of all these impacted,” he mentioned.
The Osprey — a mixture between a helicopter and a airplane — was participating within the Predators Run workout routines, a joint collection of warfighting drills involving 1000’s of troopers from the US and Australia, in addition to different militaries reminiscent of Indonesia and the Philippines.
Northern Australia has turn into an more and more necessary staging floor for the US army lately, as Washington and Canberra work collectively to counter China’s rising clout within the Asia-Pacific area.
The Osprey plane has a troubled historical past, blighted by a string of deadly crashes through the years.
4 US Marines had been killed in Norway final yr when their V-22B Osprey plane went down throughout NATO coaching workout routines.
Three Marines had been killed in 2017 when an Osprey crashed after clipping the again of a transport ship whereas attempting to land at sea off Australia’s north coast.
And 19 Marines died in 2000 when their Osprey crashed throughout drills in Arizona. The US Military earlier this yr briefly grounded all pilots who weren’t concerned in essential missions, forcing them to finish additional coaching after a collection of security incidents.
Ospreys are quickly fast tilt-rotor plane that mix the options of each helicopters and turboprop planes, based on the US Air Pressure.
The hybrid plane has two swivelling engines positioned on fastened wingtips that permit it to land and take off vertically, but in addition journey a lot sooner than a standard helicopter.
Sunday’s incident follows a deadly coaching crash final month, wherein 4 Australians died when their Taipan helicopter plunged into the ocean throughout a collection of multinational warfare video games in Queensland.
The Taipan had been participating within the large-scale Talisman Sabre train, which introduced collectively 30,000 army personnel from Australia, the USA and a number of other different nations.
It crashed close to the Whitsunday Islands whereas participating in a night-time operation.
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