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Friday, August 1, 2025
WorldFour Australian military personnel missing after chopper crashes occurred during joint wargames...

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Four Australian military personnel missing after chopper crashes occurred during joint wargames with US

After being forced to abandon their Taipan helicopter in the water while participating in joint wargame manoeuvres with the US late on Friday, four Australian defence personnel are presumed dead in the water off the east coast of Australia.

Defence Minister Richard Marles said there was still a search going on for the four Australian Army helicopter crew members on Saturday during a press briefing in Brisbane.

With sorrowful hearts, we greet today. An Australian Army MRH-90 helicopter capsized in waters near Hamilton Island last night shortly after 10.30 p.m. The helicopter was participating in a two-helicopter mission, according to Marles.

There were four aircrew members present. A search and rescue operation could start right away because another chopper was nearby. The four members of the flight crew are still missing as we speak to you. Search and rescue operations continue, he said.

Off the coast of Queensland, the plane “impacted waters” close to Lindeman Island. According to the Australian Defence Ministry, a search effort comprising both search and rescue aircraft and sea vessels is currently underway.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said their “thoughts are with loved ones of the missing” in a joint statement with his Marles, also the deputy prime minister.

“As the search and rescue teams are currently at work, all Australians are thinking of them, and we are holding onto hope. Their professionalism and expertise are of the utmost importance to us,” it said.

Known as Talisman Sabre, the mission was a component of extensive military exercises involving the US. The two countries alternate hosting the drills every other year, and other partner forces are frequently involved.

Both US Secretaries of State and Defence, Lloyd Austin and Antony Blinken, who are now in Australia, mentioned the victims of the disaster.

Austin remarked that running into accidents while training is “always tough.” But when called upon to respond to any kind of crisis, he continued, “the reason we trained to such high standards is so that we can be successful and we can protect lives.”

The Talisman Sabre exercise has been suspended to give all participants, “regardless of their nation, the opportunity to reach out and let their families know what is going on,” according to Brigadier Damien Hill, the exercise’s director, at the Brisbane press conference.

The four missing crew members’ families “have been informed of this incident, and our hopes and our thoughts are very much with the air crew and their families,” Marles stated. Our aspirations are very much with the search and rescue efforts.

With Friday’s accident, the Australian Army had to abandon an MRH-90 Taipan into the water for the second time this year. The previous incident, which occurred in March and was blamed on an engine malfunction, resulted in two injuries.

The Australian government declared in 2019 that it would retire its complete fleet of Taipans made by Airbus years ahead of schedule, referring to the Taipans as a “project of concern for the last decade.”

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