Talisman Sabre helicopter crash: Hopes fade for missing air crew
The four Defence personnel missing after a military helicopter went down in waters off the Whitsunday Islands have been named, with at least one of them formerly being based in Queensland.
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The four Defence personnel missing after a military helicopter went down in waters off the Whitsunday Islands have been named.
Pilots Lieutenant Max Nugent and Captain Dan Lyon were onboard with Warrant Officer Class 2 Joseph Laycock and Corporal Alex Naggs when their MRH-90 Taipan aircraft crashed into the sea when on a training exercise during international war games on Friday evening.
Federal Member for Herbert and former 1RAR soldier Phillip Thompson confirmed Corporal Naggs served in the 1RAR in Townsville until 2017, saying he knew him when they both served together.
“We were both in the infantry. Naggs was in heavy weapons and he also serviced in rifle companies,” Mr Thompson said.
“I knew him, he was a mate.”
In what Australia’s Defence chief described as “a terrible moment”, the MRH-90 Taipan they were in ditched into the sea just before 11pm during Exercise Talisman Sabre.
It looms as the nation’s worst peacetime military disaster since 2005.
Chief of the Australian Army Lieutenant General Simon Stuart shared the names of the missing four soldiers on Sunday afternoon.
Lt Gen Stuart said he was sharing the names with permission of the families involved.
“My thoughts and prayers are with their families and mates here at the Sixth Aviation Regiment as they wait for more news about their loved ones,” he said.
“We will continue to support their families and mates in the coming days, weeks, months and years no matter the outcome.”
Lt Gen Stuart said all four members were of the Sixth Aviation Regiment .
“Today I’m focused on three things. The first is to bring Daniel, Alexander, Joseph and Maxwell home to their families,” he said.
“The second is to support their families and their mates and third is to support the important work of the air safety investigation team as they work out what went wrong and why.”
Lt Gen Stuart said the work army, navy and the airforce does is risky and they work hard to mitigate the risks.
“I am proud of the way our people, soldiers and aviators engage in that risk every day and their achievements,” he said.
Lt Gen Stuart said he had spoken with the Sixth Aviation Regiment and he knew in the coming months they would work together and rely on one another.
“I encourage anybody who is feeling this loss today to reach out to seek support either from your rmates, from your families or the many services available,” he said.
“You’ve really got to feel for the families and their mates and I would ask everybody to keep that at the front of their minds as they think, comment and speak about what has occurred.
“They are part of a tight team.”
Lt Nugent is the son of senior NSW Police Force officer Daniel Nugent, with NSW Premier Chris Minns praising the selfless dedication of the father and son to the ADF and their state, and saying their family “must be hurting this morning”.
“I can only imagine what they’re going through today. It’s just devastating,” Mr Minns told Sky News.
“It’s obviously a family that has given so much to the people of this state and country. I can only imagine what they are going through today, it’s just devastating.”
Some of the wreckage was recovered from the waters off Hamilton Island on Saturday, more than 12 hours after the chopper went down in the middle of major international war game exercises, with the search continuing on Sunday.
Defence Minister Richard Marles said there had been a major international effort engaged in the search and rescue operation.
“The wreckage of the helicopter has been found but the main body of the frame is yet to be located,” he said.
“There are specialist assets that are on task right now which are doing that job.”
Chief of Defence General Angus Campbell gave his support and commitment they would do everything they could to determine the location and see the rescue operation carried out as effectively as they could.
Chief of Joint Operations, Lieutenant General Greg Bilton said he acknowledged the support provided by all the partners and the community of Proserpine and the surrounding Whitsundays area.
“The Whitsundays is renowned for currents so you do get some movement of any debris in the water,” he said.
“So that is a very important factor that affects search and rescue.
“The waves and the actual conditions at the moment are moderate so there’s some challenges… but it’s not stopping operations.”
Mr Marles on Sunday said there was a “very real sense of poignancy and an anxiety” associated with the search and rescue.
“Our thoughts are very much with the aircrew and of course their families,” Mr Marles told troops participating in the Talisman Sabre drills in Townsville.
“This accident makes very clear what this exercise means, the dangers that are involved, the risks that inevitably come with it.
“The significance of it all, particularly given the events of Friday night, is made very plain and very clear. We owe all of you an enormous debt of gratitude.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said all Australians owe a debt to the brave men and women who serve in order to protect our way of life in Australia.
“On behalf of our nation, our thoughts and prayers are with the families, friends and colleagues of those that are missing,” he said in a brief statement on Sunday.
Mr Albanese said he encouraged those serving and their families to reach out to hotlines for support.
“This is a stark reminder that there are no safe or easy days for those who serve in our country’s name,” he said.
“These Australians were taking part in Exercise Talisman Sabre, bringing together 13 nations and up to 30,000 personnel.
“An exercise dedicated to deepening international cooperation and building a more peaceful and secure world. Serving their country and serving the cause of peace. There is indeed no higher calling.”
US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin said the United States was ready to provide any further assistance they could.
“My thoughts are with the four Australians who were involved in the helicopter crash yesterday, and our hearts go out to their loved ones during this terribly difficult time,” he said.
Police and ADF were still searching for the MRH-90 helicopter throughout the Whitsundays on Sunday, while an exclusion zone was in place.
Queensland Police Vessels Damian Leeding and Lyle Hoey, HMAS Brisbane and HMAS Adelaide were expected to join the other vessels in the search.
Queensland Police divers and Navy started helping in the search on Sunday.
It is feared the incident could become one of Australia’s worst peacetime military disasters since two Black Hawk helicopters collided near Townsville in 1996, killing 18 personnel, and the 2005 Nias Island Sea King crash which killed nine personnel.
Authorities were still publicly clinging to fading hopes the missing Taipan crew might still be found alive late on Saturday, saying they were still conducting a search and rescue mission.
The trouble-plagued Taipans – which have featured in Brisbane’s annual Riverfire festival and assisted in last year’s NSW and Victorian flood disasters – were earmarked to be “binned” due to significant reliability issues which resulted in the fleet grounded being in March this year after a choppers carrying 10 commandos was forced to ditch in shallow water at Jervis Bay.
The aviators aboard the stricken aircraft on Friday night were confirmed as being from Sydney’s 6th Aviation Regiment, Holsworthy Barracks.
On Saturday afternoon, rescue crews on a barge recovered what was believed to be the tail section of the Taipan.
A crane line was lowered into waters about 45m deep, 1.7 nautical miles off Denman Island.
Major pieces of the aircraft, including the cockpit, still remained under water on Saturday night as strong currents continued to hamper recovery efforts. Police boat Damien Leeding and Volunteer Marine Rescue vessel Midge Point also recovered debris as authorities established a 1km exclusion zone around the crash area in the Whitsunday Passage.
Navy fast boats, RACQ CQ Rescue and the Australian Coast Guard were also involved in the search and rescue mission involving 800 Australian, US and Canadian military personnel, 16 aircraft, navy ships, police and other authorities.
Specialist police and navy divers, as well as sonar equipment, are also being deployed.
Queensland Police Acting Assistant Commissioner Douglas McDonald confirmed the joint search and rescue mission with the Australian Defence Force had located items “that would appear to be from the missing helicopter”.
“They will form part of the investigation as we move forward into what has occurred up there,” he said.
“It remains a search and rescue operation.”
Mr McDonald urged beachgoers in the area who found debris washed up on the sand to contact police immediately.
Defence Minister Richard Marles said the search and rescue mission was able to begin immediately due to the presence of the other helicopter taking part in the exercise.
“The families of the four aircrew have been notified of this incident and our hopes and our thoughts with the aircrew and their families,” he said.
“Our hopes are very much with the search and rescue crews as they go about their work right now.”
Chief of Defence General Angus Campbell said “our focus at the moment is finding the personnel and supporting their families and the rest of our team”.
“This is indeed a terrible moment,” he said.
“I really deeply appreciate the assistance that’s been provided by a variety of civil agencies; the Queensland Police, the Australian Maritime Safety Agency, and the public as well as our US allies, all of whom have come together to assist to continue the search and rescue and to find our people.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Saturday said Australia’s thoughts were with the loved ones of the missing personnel.
“All Australians hold them in our hearts and we hold on to hope as the search and rescue teams go about their work right now,” he said in a statement.
“We have the utmost confidence in their professionalism and skill.”
Police have urged members of the public who find debris to not handle it and to contact police as it could impact the investigation or cause injury.
The exclusion zone covers waters from the southern tip of Long Island, east to Perseverance Island, south to Cole Island, and west to the mainland at Round Head.
An exclusion zone is also 1000 metres from any military vessel.
Exercise Talisman Sabre 2023, a biennial military exercise involving the more than 30,000 troops from the Australian and US defence forces and 13 other nations, was paused in the wake of the disaster.
TS23 director Brigadier Damian Hill said on Saturday afternoon that limited exercises had resumed in Western Australia and the Northern Territory, but all activities involving the Taipans remained grounded.
“I wanted our people to contact their families to let them know they were safe and what was happening,” Brigadier Hill said. “The families of the missing personnel have been notified.
“ I’d like to reiterate it is Defence’s priority to look after those families, their members, their teammates and those that know them.
“For those service members, those veterans and those members of the community that are suffering as a consequence of this, I ask that you reach out to the relevant support networks for those of us in the ADF.”
Australia’s issue-plagued fleet of MRH90 choppers was grounded in March after the incident at Jervis Bay.
All 10 personnel were recovered from the aircraft with no major injuries after that incident.
It is unclear if any of those personnel were involved in this latest incident.
All 47 of the European-designed MRH-90 Taipans were grounded as a result of the March incident, and the entire $3.8bn fleet was to be permanently abandoned by December 24, at least 13 years earlier than expected.
The operational pause on flying operations for the Taipans was lifted on April 6 with “risk mitigations in place,” a defence spokeswoman said.
The “risk mitigations” were not disclosed at the time.
Queensland Deputy Premier Steven Miles said Friday’s crash was “terribly distressing”, where search and rescue efforts were being managed by federal agencies.
“It is a reminder that our defence personnel literally put their lives on the line every single day to defend us and defend our country,” he said Sunday morning.
“The primary response is being led by the Australian Defence Force.
“I’m sure our emergency services and our first responders have made themselves available if ADF require any assistance. I’m not aware if those offers have been accepted.”
Additional reporting: Samantha Scott, Kate Kyriacou, Estelle Sanchez and Jodie Munro O’Brien
Support services for ADF personnel
Defence all-hours support line 1800 628 036
Defence Member and Family Helpline 1800 624 608
For information on how to access mental health professionals 1800 IMSICK (1800 467 425)
Open Arms – Veterans & Families Counselling (formerly VVCS) 1800 011 046
Department of Veterans’ Affairs 1800 838 372
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