Dubai – Al Arabiya.net
Posted on: August 27, 2023: 11:01 AM GST Last updated: August 27, 2023: 11:42 AM GST
In a mysterious accident, the details of which have not yet been revealed, 23 US Marines were injured when a military plane crashed on an island in northern Australia during joint exercises, according to local police.
Police Commissioner Michael Murphy said on Sunday that five officers had been taken from the scene to a hospital on the mainland in the north of the country, one of them in critical condition.
A US official announced that three Marines were killed in the accident, according to AFP.
The plane crashed on the remote Australian island of Melville, north of the mainland, during joint exercises, according to the Ministry of Defense in Canberra, without reports of deaths. “At this critical early stage, our focus is on responding to the incident and the safety of everyone involved,” she said in a statement, stressing at the same time that no Australian soldier was present.
This incident occurred during the participation of the “Asbury” aircraft in a series of joint exercises on combat maneuvers conducted by the US and Australian armies with the participation of thousands of soldiers, in addition to forces from other countries such as Indonesia and the Philippines.
Northern Australia has become increasingly important in recent years as a platform for the US military, as the two allies seek to counter China’s growing influence in the Asia-Pacific region.
Two accidents in two months
It is noteworthy that the Osprey plane is capable of vertical take-off and landing, and has movable wings that can be directed upwards to give it the ability of the helicopter to maneuver or forward to fly horizontally as a regular plane.
It is also one of the most prominent in the fleet of the Navy and Marine Corps “Marines”, and it undertakes several tasks, most notably transportation
However, its record in the field of navigational safety faced many questions in light of the many accidents it had been exposed to during the past years.
In April 2000, 19 Marines were killed in a plane crash of this type during a training mission in the US state of Arizona.
Three Marines also died in 2017 when the Osprey wrecked after hitting the back of a transport ship as it attempted to land on a floating offshore platform off the northern coast of Australia.
The accident is also the second day of its kind in Australia in less than two months.
In July, four Australians were killed when their Taipan helicopter plunged into the water during another exercise off Queensland in the north-east of the country.
Canberra has previously announced plans to replace its fleet of old Taipan helicopters with US-made Black Hawks.
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2023-08-27 07:01:00
