‘No hope’ of finding ADF servicemen alive: Richard Marles

Richard Marles says the search and rescue mission for the four men aboard the MRH-90 Taipan helicopter has transitioned to a recovery operation.

Deputy PM Richard Marles, and Defence Force chief General Angus Campbell hold a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Martin Ollman

There is no longer any hope of finding alive the four men aboard the MRH-90 Taipan helicopter when it crashed into the ocean off Queensland’s Whitsunday Islands on Friday night, with the government shifting the search and rescue mission to a recovery operation.

Defence Minister Richard Marles on Monday said the nation’s fleet of MRH-90 helicopters would be grounded and not flown until a full investigation had been conducted, casting doubt on whether the aircraft would be used again.

“We will not be flying MRH-90s until we understand what’s happened,” he said. “There will be a full investigation of what has happened. We will come to understand, as a result of that, exactly what has occurred and we will learn the lessons from that.”

“The investigation is going to be thorough. We need to understand what occurred. If there are steps which then need to be taken, we need to take those steps. And until all of that has happened the MRH-90s will not fly.”

Mr Marles said the “significant wreckage” from the helicopter — which crashed during the joint Australia-US Talisman Sabre military exercise taking place across northern Queensland — had revealed a “catastrophic” incident had occurred.

The comments reveal the government’s conviction that the four men on the MRH-90 helicopter on Friday have been killed and could not have survived the crash in what is shaping up as the worst peacetime military accident in Australia in almost 20 years.

“There was a catastrophic incident,” Mr Marles said. “And with every passing hour it is now clear that any hope of finding captain Captain [Daniel] Lyon, Lieutenant [Maxwell] Nugent, [Joseph] Laycock and [Alexander] Naggs are lost,” Mr Marles said. “As such, the nature of the activities which are being undertaken in the Whitsundays have transferred from being ones of search and rescue to an activity of recovery.”

The families of the four men were notified this morning and Mr Marles said he had spoken to each of them.

“I do want to assure them and assure the nation that the determined recovery effort involving hundreds of defence force personnel will continue,” he said. “What we do know is that defence exercises are serious. They carry risk and are such they are dangerous. But they are so important. These exercises have played a critical part in providing for the collective security and peace of the region.”

“The loss of these four men is as significant and meaningful as the loss of anyone who has worn our nation’s uniform. If it is as we imagine it to be, they died on Friday night making a difference.”

Chief of the Defence Force, Angus Campbell, said the recovery operation was challenging and was taking place in the waters around the Whitsunday Islands “where there are quite strong currents and tidal movements.”

He said the waters moved below the depth of a standard diving operation, meaning sonar equipment was needed to identify pieces of the wreckage and that specialist divers would be required. “This is not an easy operation,” he said.

“The investigation … will scrutinise every aspect of this event. And we will be seeking to recover as much as possible of the (helicopter) and for as long as required.”

“There are data recording systems, so that will be of assistance. But the material and mechanical state of the (helicopter) as in other air investigations can be meticulously put back together and hence understood.

“That’s for investigators. But it is not time now for careless or speculative comments.”

General Campbell provided an assurance that the Talisman Sabre exercises would be continuing, but would be “adjusted or changed” in the vicinity of the crash site “in a way that enables the recovery effort to continue at scale.”

Questioned on the history of problems with the Taipan helicopters over a period of years, Mr Marles also provided an assurance that they had been “certified to fly” in the military exercises.

“They won’t fly again until we understand what has happened.”

No details were provided on who would lead the crash investigation.