Tiwi Island residents react to fatal US Military Osprey crash news

Tiwi Island residents have described how it feels on the ground near the site of a US Military aircraft disaster that killed three soldiers.

Australian troops are holed up on the landing bank of Melville Island as a grim recovery mission gets under way at the scene of a horror aircraft crash that killed three of their American comrades.

They came to the island as part of a military exercise but now wait in the shade for a barge to take them back to the mainland.

Their Predators Run exercise - combining the military strength of America, Australia, Philippines, Timor Leste and Indonesia - met a horrific end on the first day of the 12 day operation.

Three American marines were killed in a crash during a military exercise off the coast of the Northern Territory on Sunday.

Another five were flown to Royal Darwin Hospital in a serious condition following the crash at 9.43am.

Australian soldiers await a barge. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

Around 30 Australians still in their camouflage waited to be picked up from Paru.

Civilian Barge operator Richard Puruntatamuri said he had been watching the young soldiers all morning as he crossed the river dividing Bathurst from Melville Island.

Barge operator Richard Puruntatamuri at Wurrumiyanga discussing the crash on Melville Island on Sunday August 27. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

Mr Puruntatamuri said the young soldiers all looked crestfallen.

“By the looks they’re just sitting, laying down,” he said.

“They’re all going to leave from here.”

He said a green barge had already taken away two of the “big army trucks”, with another expected to leave later this afternoon.

Mr Puruntatamuri said while taking residents across the river he spoke to a teacher from Tiwi College, just near the crash site.

Melville Island was the site of a fatal US Military aircraft crash on Sunday. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

“He saw the smoke,” Mr Puruntatamuri said.

“He said it was shaking, like an earthquake from the force.”

Mr Puruntatamuri said everyone on the island was in shock.

“We couldn’t believe it,” he said.

While it is all anyone on Bathurst Island can talk about, he said no one had any information.

“People have been talking all morning, but no one knows anything,” he said.

“We don’t know what happened.”

Just a five minute barge ride, and a 45 minute drive separate the Wurrumiyanga community from the Pickataramoor crash site.

But a cloak of military secrecy has meant even the residents of the neighbouring island have heard little about the fatal crash.

Scenes from the Tiwi Islands the day after a fatal US military aircraft crash. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

Tiwi woman Nilvsia Kerinaiua said the massive military training exercise was largely out of sight out of mind for the Tiwi Island people.

Ms Kerinaiua said the once-a-year operations did not really impact locals, apart from the occasional helicopter sighting overheard.

“It’s pretty hidden away,” she said.

Tiwi women Silva Punguatji, left, Nilvsia Kerinaiua, Bebesley Wilson, Carla Kerinaiua and Lisa Timeapatua at Wurrumiyanga following the crash on Melville Island on Sunday August 27. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

But she said the Sunday crash brought that reality crashing back to their peaceful island home.

Fellow Tiwi woman Lisa Timeapatua said her prayers were with the Americans, who passed away so far away from their home.

“It’s too sad — It hurts,” Ms Timeapatua said.

“We pray to god.”

Most of the locals agree that there were rough winds around the islands on Sunday, with one man describing “mad winds” bending trees on the day of the crash.

One woman whose family was on Melville Island said the area around Pickataramoor was particularly known for the rough weather.

She said they saw a “mushroom cloud” of smoke from the crash site.

Tiwi Island residents Inigo Warlapinni, left, and Delores Orsto. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

Wurrumiyanga man Inigo Warlapinni said the only sign of the chaos just across the water on Sunday was the helicopters overhead, and the local police and ambulance racing across the river.

Tiwi Land Council expressed its condolences to the deceased, saying there was a “strong bond between the Tiwi people and the military personnel training in the area”.
“Our thoughts are with the families of the deceased and with the injured military personnel as they receive medical attention and recover from this incident,” Chairman Gibson Farmer Illortaminni said.

“We want to assure them and their families that they have the support and well wishes of the Tiwi community during this challenging time.”

The land council will bot be issuing any media permits to Melville Island under the directions of the incident controller.

Nearby boarding school Tiwi College posted to Facebook to tell families of students they would not be able to pick students up for the foreseeable future.

“Unfortunately we have been instructed by NT Police to not pick up students today to allow defence personnel to do their jobs, as well as ensure absolute student safety,” a post said on Monday.