A military helicopter carrying United States Marines was involved in an accident in Australia, which resulted in three deaths and twenty injuries.
The crash occurred as the MV-22B Osprey was en route to the isolated Tiwi islands, which are located north of Darwin. It is believed that five of the troops are in extremely critical condition.
They were taking part in an exercise called Predators Run, which included 2,500 service members from the United States of America, Australia, East Timor, and the Philippines.
On board the aircraft was no one other than US personnel.
On Sunday, the incident took place on Melville Island, which is located north of Darwin, the capital of the Northern Territory.
Anthony Albanese, the Prime Minister of Australia, referred to the situation as a tragedy and promised that all possible aid would be provided to those who were harmed.
According to the local police commissioner Michael Murphy, “Five marines have been returned to Darwin for treatment, and the remaining are being triaged at the scene.”
“Additional police and defense personnel have been deployed to Melville Island to support operations, triage injured people, and return them to Darwin. Additionally, while investigations continue, the crash scene will be maintained by these personnel.”
It has been less than a month since the last tragic helicopter accident that occurred during joint exercises in northern Australia, and this occurrence is the second such accident in that time period.
Exercise Talisman Sabre is the largest bilateral military training exercise between Australia and the United States. On July 29, four Australian troops were assumed dead after their 45 MRH-90 Taipan crashed off the coast of Queensland while they were participating in the exercise. Exercise Talisman Sabre is also the name of the activity.
The Osprey is a hybrid aircraft that combines characteristics of helicopters and turbo-prop planes. Because of this combination, it is able to travel at significantly higher speeds than a traditional helicopter.
However, it has a checkered past, including a deadly accident in Norway that took the lives of four marines just a year ago. In 2017, three more people lost their lives after an airplane carrying them collided with the back of a transport ship off the coast of northern Australia.
