Australian military helicopter crash in Whitsundays- Four Missing

 Australian military helicopter crashes off northeast coast; four missing

An MRH-90 helicopter.CREDIT:ROYAL AUSTRALIAN NAVY

Australia and the United States’ top defence and foreign policy officials have paid tribute to the four defence personnel who are feared dead after a military helicopter crashed near Hamilton Island in the Whitsundays during a joint training exercise.

Defence Minister Richard Marles said the Australian helicopter, an MRH-90, ditched in waters near the island about 10.30pm on Friday while on a two-helicopter mission as part of the Talisman Sabre exercise.

Marles said the second helicopter began a search of the waters, but the Australian crew were still missing as of Saturday morning.

The Defence Force has notified the families of the incident, which happened in waters near Lindeman Island.

“We meet this day with a heavy heart,” Marles said.

“The families of the four aircrew have been notified of this incident and our hopes and thoughts are very much with the aircrew and their families ,the efforts of the search and rescue crews as they go about their work right now.”

Marles said it was still early days and more information would be provided about the incident.He said while defence exercises were necessary for the readiness of the military, they were serious and carried risk.

“And 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,” he said.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the incident was a “stark reminder of the risk that the men and women who serve us take and the courage that they show in their service to their country”. The helicopter crash has cast a shadow over the annual Australia-United States Ministerial (AUSMIN) consultations in Brisbane, the primary forum at which the two nations set the strategic direction for their military alliance.

Marles had been scheduled to visit the Talisman Sabre exercises in Townsville on Sunday with US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, but the exercises have been put on hold.

Austin, a retired US Army four-star general, expressed his support for the families of the missing service members, saying that “the reason that we train to such high standards is so that we can be successful and we can protect lives when we are called to answer any kind of crisis”. “It’s always tough when you have accidents in training,” he said.

Four feared dead after military helicopter crash in Queensland

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said: “We, like you, are thinking of your four service members.

“We’re thinking of them, we’re thinking of their family, their friends, their comrades.

“We’re so grateful to them for their dedication, for their service, for everything they’ve been doing to stand up for the freedom that we share.”

The Australian National Audit Office has listed the Taipan as a “project of concern”.

At the time of that crash, Marles said the MRH-90s had been in the Defence Force for a “considerable amount of time”, and the helicopters would be replaced with Black Hawks.