Four crew members missing after military helicopter crash in Pacific.
Four Crew Members Missing After Military Helicopter Is Ditched Over the Pacific
During joint military exercises with the United States, an Australian army helicopter made a dramatic emergency landing on water, leaving four air crew members missing. The incident occurred near Lindeman Island, a popular tourist resort in the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of Queensland.
The MRH-90 Taipan helicopter, which was participating in the Talisman Sabre exercise, went down at approximately 11 p.m. on Friday. A search operation involving personnel from the United States, Canada, and Australia is currently underway to locate the missing crew, all of whom are Australian men.
Debris believed to be from the helicopter has been recovered, according to Queensland Police Assistant Commissioner Douglas McDonald.
The Talisman Sabre exercise, a biennial joint military exercise involving 13 nations and over 30,000 military personnel, is primarily based in Queensland. Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles emphasized the seriousness and risks associated with such exercises, stating, “As we desperately hope for better news during the course of this day, we are reminded about the gravity of the act which comes with wearing our nation’s uniform.”
Exercise Director Australian Army Brigadier Damian Hill announced that the exercise was temporarily postponed but later resumed with limited activity. As a precautionary measure, Australia grounded its Taipan fleet.
This is the second emergency involving an Australian Taipan helicopter this year. In March, another Taipan ditched into the sea off the coast of New South Wales during a nighttime counter-terrorism training exercise. Fortunately, all 10 passengers and crew members were rescued.
International Support and Tributes
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who was in Brisbane for a meeting, expressed his condolences and praised the dedication and service of the missing air crew. Austin, along with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, paid tribute to the crew at the beginning of a meeting with their Australian counterparts.
Australia’s Defense Minister Marles thanked the United States for its contribution to the ongoing search-and-rescue efforts.
Replacement Plans for the Taipan Fleet
In January, Australia announced that it would retire its fleet of Taipan helicopters by December 2024, 13 years earlier than planned, due to reliability issues. The European-built Taipans will be replaced by 40 U.S. Black Hawks, which have a proven track record of reliability, according to Marles.
Since the arrival of the first Taipan helicopter in Australia in 2007, the fleet has faced numerous problems. In 2019, the entire fleet was grounded to address an issue with the tail rotor blades, and a year later, 27 Taipans were grounded due to problems with the doors.
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