Three US Marines died and 20 were injured after a Marine Corps aircraft – Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft – crashed in Australia during a training exercise on Sunday, August 27.
The aircraft, which crashed at around 9.30 AM local time, was carrying 23 Marines, out of whom three died and five others were rushed to the Royal Darwin Hospital in a serious condition.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese reportedly said that only Americans were injured in the crash. The Northern Territory Chief Minister Natasha Fyles has assured assistance in any possible way.
“We acknowledge that this is a terrible incident. The Northern Territory government stands by to offer whatever assistance is required,” Fyles said.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin offered his condolences to the families of the deceased and the ones injured. Taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, he wrote, “We tragically lost service members during a training exercise in Australia overnight. These Marines served our country with courage and pride, and my thoughts and prayers are with their families today, with the other troops who were injured in the crash, and with the entire USMC family.”
The Osprey crashed during Exercise Predators Run, a training exercise involving troops from the US, Australia, Indonesia, Philippines, and East Timor. The aircraft was flying from Darwin to Melville.
Northern Territory Police Commission Michael Murphy said that two US Marine Osprey aircraft had left Darwin on Sunday morning and flew towards Tiwi Islands, about 80 kilometres away. About 150 US Marines are reportedly based in Darwin and up to 2,500 troops rotate through the city annually.
The Osprey aircraft has infamously been involved in several such incidents in the past as well. Five US Marines had died last year after an MV-22B Osprey crashed during a training mission near California. Four more US personnel were killed when their Osprey aircraft crashed during a NATO training drill in Norway.
Reports say five crashes and 16 deaths since 2012 have involved Ospreys – a hybrid aircraft flown by the US Army, Navy and Air Force. The aircraft is similar to a chopper but can rotate its propellers forward and is faster.