Human remains found of Australian army helicopter crew that crashed at sea

Nearly a week after an Australian military helicopter crashed in Queensland, unidentified human remains of the four crew members have been found, the authorities said Thursday (August 3).

The Australian defence force said more debris had been found, including the helicopter's cockpit, about 40 metres underwater.

“The debris field is consistent with a catastrophic, high impact,”Lt Gen Greg Bilton, the chief of joint operations said.

“Sadly I can confirm unidentified human remains have also been observed in this location by the remotely operated underwater vehicle," he added.

While human remains have been found, the authorities are yet to find the black box, crucial to explaining the tragedy.

“It’s a difficult task but we’ll do our absolute best to find it and, as you know, the black box is critical to helping us to understand what’s actually taken place,” Bilton said.

Initially, the search team's efforts had been hampered by strong currents and poor weather. However, on Monday, the Australian government said the hopes of finding the four crew members alive had been lost.

Lt Maxwell Nugent, Capt Daniel Lyon, Cpl Alexander Naggs and WO Class Two Joseph Phillip Laycock were aboard the helicopter when it crashed during theTalisman Sabre training exercise.

It was an extensive event involving 30,000 military personnel from various nations, such asFiji, France, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Tonga, the United Kingdom, Canada and Germany.

The crash reportedlyoccurred near the Whitsunday Islands during a nighttime operation, resulting in a catastrophic impact.

Also watch |Australia: Four feared dead following military helicopter crash

Helicopters grounded

After the crash, Canberra announced it was grounding its fleet of over three dozen Taipan helicopters until an investigation into the crash is concluded by the authorities.

Past complaints regarding the European-made Taipans' maintenance and spare parts were mentioned by Australian officials. The Down Under country plans to replace the aged helicopters with40 US Black Hawk helicopters.

(With inputs from agencies)

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