Camp Pendleton Marines had been amongst these concerned within the MV-22B Osprey plane crash in Australia on Sunday that killed three and left 20 others injured, based on navy officers.
The fiery crash occurred round 9:30 a.m. on Melville Island, which is situated simply north of the mainland metropolis of Darwin, throughout a routine coaching train. A complete of 23 navy personnel had been on board, officers with the Marine Rotational Pressure – Darwin stated in a statement Sunday.
In a follow-up assertion launched Monday, U.S. Marine officers stated that the entire troops concerned within the crash had been from squadrons primarily based out of Camp Pendleton and Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii.
Army officers additionally recognized the three killed within the crash as Corporal Spencer R. Collart, Captain Eleanor LeBeau and Main Tobin Lewis — all of whom had been from the Hawaii squadron.
“We’re deeply saddened by the lack of three revered and beloved members of the MRF-D household,” Col. Brendan Sullivan, commanding officer of MRF-D, stated within the assertion. “Our ideas and prayers stay with the households and with all concerned.”
20 Marines on-board reported injures and had been transported to Royal Darwin Hospital, based on navy officers. Of these injured, 17 have since been launched and three stay hospitalized — one in important situation and two in secure situation.
It’s unclear from the place these injured marines had been primarily based. The extent of their accidents can also be not identified at the moment.
The reason for the crash stays below investigation, the U.S. Marines stated.
Round 150 Marines are presently primarily based in Darwin, with as much as 2,500 rotating by way of the town yearly. In line with navy officers, the deployment of U.S. troops to the town is a part of a wider alignment of forces that’s broadly meant to face an more and more assertive China.
The U.S. troops concerned in Sunday’s Osprey crash had been flying in assist of Train Predator’s Run, a 12-day train that additionally includes militaries from Australia, Indonesia, the Philippines and East Timor.
The Osprey is a hybrid plane that takes off and lands like a helicopter, however can rotate its propellers ahead throughout flight and cruise rather more like an airplane. Variations of the plane are utilized by the Navy and Air Pressure along with the Marines.
Earlier than Sunday, there had been a complete of 5 deadly crashes of Marine Ospreys since 2012, inflicting a complete of 16 deaths.
The most recent was a fiery crash in Imperial County in June 2022 that left 5 Marines useless. A report from the next investigation, which was launched final month, discovered that it was brought on by a mechanical failure associated to a clutch.
There had been 16 comparable clutch issues with the Marine Ospreys in flight since 2012, the report discovered. However no issues had arisen since February when the Marine Corps started changing a chunk of apparatus on the plane, the report added.
The Related Press contributed to this report.
