The four missing Australian Defence Force members in an army helicopter crash have been confirmed dead.
Captain Daniel Lyon, Lieutenant Maxwell Nugent, Warrant Officer Class Two Joseph Laycock, and Corporal Alexander Naggs were on board an MRH-90 Taipan helicopter on Friday evening when it went down into the waters off Queensland’s Hamilton Island. The men were from the Sixth Aviation Regiment based in Holsworthy Barracks in Sydney.
Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles said that with every passing hour, the hope of finding the four men had been lost.
He said “significant” wreckage of the Taipan helicopter had been found.
“What this evidences is that there was a catastrophic incident,” he told reporters on Monday.
The search and rescue operation has now transferred into one of recovery.
“There will be a full investigation and we will come to understand exactly what happened and learn the lessons from it,” Mr. Marles said, urging against any speculation before more information was uncovered.
The crew were conducting military training as part of Exercise Talisman Sabre, a biennial joint multi-nation military exercise that is led either by Australia or the United States.
“These exercises have played a critical part in providing for the collective security and peace of the region in which we live,” Mr. Marles said. “So the loss of these four men is as significant and meaningful as the loss of anyone who has worn our nation’s uniform.”
“If it is, as we imagined it to be, they died on Friday night making a difference.”
Chief of the Australian Defence Force, General Angus Campbell, said the recovery effort had the full backing of the nations involved in Exercise Talisman Sabre.
“We deeply appreciate the assistance being offered, especially by the United States and by Canada, as well as by the civil agencies and the Queensland Police Service,” he said.
“These efforts will continue. We'll be bringing our mates home to their families and to their regiments.”
Plagued by Issues
Mr. Marles confirmed that the rest of the Taipan helicopter fleet has been grounded until it is understood what exactly happened.The European-built Taipans are known for technical issues, with the federal government announcing in 2021 that it would retire the entire fleet at the end of 2024, 13 years ahead of its planned withdrawal.
Earlier in March, another Taipan was forced to make an emergency landing during a counterterrorism military training exercise into waters off a New South Wales beach in Jervis Bay. Fortunately, the ten personnel onboard walked away with only minor injuries.
Mr. Marles said Australia was currently in the process of transitioning to the Black Hawks.
“This is both a question of having the [Black Hawk] airframes come to Australia but also a question of making sure that all the appropriate training originally is done for those who operate the Black Hawks that that that can be done in a safe way,” he said.
“And that needs to be done with all the thoroughness that you would expect.
“We will move through the process of putting Blackhawks into service as quickly as we can, but as far as we need to.”
On Sunday, when asked why the Taipan helicopters were still in use despite being problematic, Australian Army chief Simon Stuart said the Defence Force always worked to mitigate the risks before they fly.
“We don’t fly if we don’t think it’s safe,” he said.
This year’s Exercise Talisman Sabre involves 30,000 military personnel from 13 nations, including New Zealand, Canada, the United Kingdom, Japan, and South Korea.
It will run from July 22 to Aug. 4 and consists of field training exercises, amphibious landings, ground force manoeuvres, and air combat and maritime operations.
