Australia’s defence minister, Richard Marles, confirmed that there is no longer any hope of locating survivors from the military helicopter crash that occurred during a multinational military exercise off Lindeman Island on Friday (28) night.
The crash involved one of the army’s 45 MRH-90 Taipan helicopters and left four crew members, belonging to the Sixth Aviation Regiment based in Sydney, missing and now feared dead.
Following the incident, Lt Gen Simon Stuart, Australia’s army chief, grounded the entire fleet of MRH-90 Taipan helicopters until their safety could be assured. The decision came as a response to the repeated grounding of Taipans for maintenance and safety issues, including an engine failure incident in March.
The crash took place during Exercise Talisman Sabre, a large-scale training exercise involving 30,000 military personnel from Australia, the United States, and other nations.
As a result of the tragic event, Canberra decided to replace its ageing European-made Taipan helicopters with US-made Black Hawks. However, the current plan is to keep the Taipans in service until 2024, subject to the findings of the ongoing investigation.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese conveyed his condolences and emphasized the risks faced by those serving in the country’s name.
The US Defence Secretary, Lloyd Austin, pledged to provide any assistance possible in response to the incident.
