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U.S. sailors and Australian soldiers conduct nighttime fast-rope training from an MRH-90 Taipan helicopter during the Talisman Sabre exercise in Sydney, July 17, 2023. (Daniel Gaither/U.S. Navy)
ROCKHAMPTON, Australia – The search continues for four service members missing since their Australian army helicopter crashed late Friday during the multinational Talisman Sabre exercise.
The MRH-90 Taipan had four aircrew aboard when it “ditched” in waters near Hamilton Island around 10:30 p.m., Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles said during a Saturday morning news briefing in Brisbane.
“Because there was another helicopter present, a search-and-rescue was able to commence immediately,” he said.
Talisman Sabre activities, which were paused immediately after the crash, resumed late Saturday afternoon on a limited basis, according to the exercise’s director, Australian army Brigadier Damian Hill, who gave a 5 p.m. update to reporters in Brisbane.
Debris presumed to be from the crash has been found, according to Queensland Police’s acting assistant commissioner, Douglas McDonald.
“At this time, we have located a number of items of debris that would appear to be from the missing helicopter,” he said alongside Hill in Brisbane. “They will form part of the investigation as we move forward into what has occurred up there at this time. It remains a search-and-rescue operation, and we have a number of specialist resources in place at the moment working with the [Australian Defence Force].”
About 800 Australian military personnel, along with U.S. and Canadian forces, have been carrying out search-and-rescue efforts by air and sea, Hill said. The guided-missile destroyer HMAS Brisbane is at the crash scene and two more warships are on the way, he added.
U.S. and Australian airmen refuel an MRH-90 Taipan during a Talsman Sabre drill at Royal Australian Air Force Base Amberley, Australia, July 24, 2023. (Tylir Meyer/U.S. Air Force)
Though some Talisman Sabre activities have restarted in Western Australia and the Northern Territory, the country has grounded its fleet of Taipan helicopters as a precaution, Hill said.
“Our thoughts, and mine in particular, are with the missing service members, their teammates and their families, and especially the search-and-rescue teams that will continue to work with local emergency services to continue to search,” he said.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who is in Brisbane, was due to travel with Marles to north Queensland on Sunday to see the exercise, according to The Associated Press.
Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken held a press conference Saturday afternoon, livestreamed by the Defense Department, with their Australian counterparts – Marles and Foreign Minister Penny Wong - following annual consultations in Brisbane.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the [Australian Defence Force] and the four Australian service members who were involved in the helicopter crash while supporting exercise Talisman Sabre,” Austin said. “I told the [Prime Minister Anthony Albanese] whatever he needs we stand ready to provide assistance.”
The missing Australian aircrew were performing their duties alongside American servicemen and women, Blinken said.
“They have been on our minds throughout today,” he said. “They remain very much on our minds right now.”
Australia’s Taipan fleet has been plagued with difficulties, broadcaster ABC reported Saturday.
Ten troops were rescued from waters off New South Wales in March after their Taipan ditched into the sea during counterterrorism training, the report said. The fleet was also grounded in 2019 to fix tail rotors.
During the Talisman Sabre exercise in 2017, three U.S. Marines were killed when an MV-22 Osprey crashed off Queensland’s coast.
Investigators, in a report issued the following spring, said the accident was caused by a heavy downwash of air as the aircraft, assigned to Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 265 on Okinawa, attempted to land aboard the USS Green Bay.
This year’s Talisman Sabre, featuring 30,000 troops from 13 countries, kicked off July 21 and swung into gear with two live-fire drills the following day at sites 1,000 mile apart.
Hosted by Australia along its eastern coast, the exercise is scheduled to conclude Aug. 4.
