On Sunday, after their Osprey aircraft came down during war games, on a remote tropical island on the northern tip of Australia, three U.S. Marines were killed. Another 20 were injured with five having been flown to a hospital in a “serious condition”.
There were twenty-three personnel on board the fully loaded Bell MV-22B Osprey, when it crashed on Melville Island, 30 miles off the coast from Darwin, capital of the Northern Territory (NT). Recovery efforts are ongoing.
According to ABC News, NT Police Commissioner, Michael Murphy said-
“Those injured are 23 U.S. Marine Corps [personnel] and we are doing everything we can to return them safely back to Darwin for treatment,” …“Five marines have been returned to Darwin for treatment with the remaining 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 and also maintain the crash scene while investigations continue.”
-NT Police Commissioner, Michael Murphy
According to Commissioner Murphy, after the crash occurred, a military aircraft was deployed “almost immediately” in response and emergency services were notified. The crash, he said, took place shortly before 9am about one mile inland on Melville Island. The aircraft was one of two U.S. Osprey that left Darwin earlier in the day.
Commissioner Murphy added-
“This is about a mission to bring people home and get treatment to make sure they’re okay,”
-NT Police Commissioner, Michael Murphy
Stressing that authorities were still trying to piece together what happened, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described the incident as “tragic and “regrettable”. The Marine Corps. said that at the time of that “mishap,” the MV-22B Osprey and crew were conducting routine flight training.
A mix between a helicopter and a plane, the Osprey was taking part in the Predators Run exercises. These are a joint series of warfighting drills involving thousands of soldiers from the U.S. and Australia, as well as other militaries, such as Indonesia and the Philippines. The Exercise Predators Run is the largest Australian Army-led exercise in the Northern Territory this year.
No explanation for the cause of the crash is known, an investigation is ongoing. Names of the injured, and deceased have also not been released.
The thoughts and prayers of a grateful nation are with the 23 involved as well as their families.
“Prayer is not asking. Prayer is putting oneself in the hands of God, at His disposition, and listening to His voice in the depth of our hearts.”
-Mother Teresa