Townsville Taipan army helicopters grounded in national flight suspension

At least twenty Taipan helicopters will not take to the Townsville skies anytime soon, after a water crash landing in NSW Wednesday night.

More than 20 beleaguered helicopters will stay on the ground in Townsville for the foreseeable future after one of the same model chopper was ditched into the ocean off New South Wales’ south coast.

An MRH-90 Taipan helicopter was flying over Jervis Bay about 9pm on Wednesday doing counter-terrorism training when the main rotor lost power.

The defence force has temporarily grounded all MRH-90 Taipans while the cause of the crash is investigated by the Defence Flight Safety Bureau.

Another look at the crashed helicopter. Picture: Tom McGann

It was ditched onto the water in the bay, and on Thursday afternoon remained beached.

No one was seriously hurt in the incident. Of the ten people on board, one ingested seawater and another bumped their head.

Major General Stephen Jobson said on Thursday aviators of the 6th Aviation Regiment and personnel of the 2nd Commando Regiment undertook a routine counter-terrorism training exercise in the Jervis Bay vicinity.

The helicopter “incurred an incident” that resulted in a ditching onto the surface of the water, the major general said.

All ten personnel safely “egressed”, he said.

“The crew have been exceptionally professional in this instance.”

On board an MRH-90 Taipan during a flypass over the Townsville 400 Supercars event. Picture: Alix Sweeney

Defence had issued an operational pause on the Taipan fleet while an investigation was carried out by the safety bureau, the major general said.

“We need to ensure that that process occurs prior to us being able to offer further details on the incident itself,” he said.

Questioned whether this incident would be the end of the Taipans being used by the army, Major General Jobson, who is based in Canberra at the aviation command headquarters, said he wanted to focus on the incident and safety investigation.

The major general also did not directly answer when asked how much one of the helicopters cost, and said he wanted to focus on the incident at hand.

The Taipans being back in the air would depend on the safety bureau’s investigation, he said.

The Australian Army has 41 MRH-90 Taipan helicopters. The majority were in Townsville with the 5th Aviation Regiment, the rest were with the 6th Aviation Regiment at Holsworthy in New South Wales, a defence spokesman said.

MRH-90 Taipan helicopter flight around Townsville. Taking off at Cape Cleveland. Picture: Evan Morgan

The MRH90 Taipans have caused recurring issues for the Australian Defence Force, including multiple full or partial fleet groundings.

In January, the Bulletin reported that Townsville would not receive new Black Hawk helicopters, with defence saying NQ would continue to be the home of an expanded CH-47 Chinook fleet.

The new Black Hawks would be at Oakley, Queensland and Holsworthy.

The Taipans transport troops and give fire protection during special operations and counter-terrorism missions.

Originally published as Townsville Taipan army helicopters grounded in national flight suspension