Human remains found but not recovered after MRH-90 helicopter crash

Human remains have been found with debris from the army’s crashed MRH-90 helicopter, but the bodies of four missing aviators who went down with the aircraft are yet to be recovered.

ADF Chief of Joint Operations Lieutenant General Greg Bilton. Picture: Dan Peled / NCA NewsWire

Human remains have been found with submerged debris from the army’s crashed MRH-90 Taipan helicopter, but the bodies of four missing aviators who went down with the aircraft are yet to be recovered.

Australian Defence Force chief of joint operations Lieutenant General Greg Bilton said an underwater drone located pieces of the helicopter in the search area off Queensland’s Lindeman Island late on Wednesday, ­including parts of the cockpit.

“The debris field is consistent with a catastrophic high impact. Sadly, I can confirm unidentified human remains have also been observed in this location,” Lieutenant General Bilton said.

He said any positive identification of the remains was ­unlikely until the wreckage was recovered.

The disclosure followed an admission by authorities earlier this week that there was no longer any hope that Lieutenant Maxwell Nugent, Warrant Officer Class Two Joseph Laycock, Corporal Alexander Naggs and Captain Dan Lyon would be found alive.

Lieutenant General Bilton said recovery teams were operating at depths of about 40m, and poor weather was making the operation more difficult.

The helicopter was taking part in Australia’s biggest war games, Exercise Talisman Sabre, when it crashed about 10.30pm last Friday. The cause of the accident remains unknown, and followed a non-fatal MRH-90 crash off Jervis Bay in NSW in March.

The ADF’s 40-plus fleet of MRH-90s have now been grounded indefinitely, sparking what is likely to be an acute helicopter shortage as the Euro­pean-made aircraft – which were to be retired next year – are ­replaced by US-made Black Hawks.

Lieutenant General Bilton said the aircraft’s “black box” was still missing, and all communications with the aircraft had been normal before the crash.

“The black box is critical in helping us understand what has actually taken place,” he said.