US Marine critically injured as military aircraft crashes during exercise in Australia’s Northern Territory

At least three United States military personnel were injured, one critically, after an aircraft crashed off the coast of a north Australian island around mid-morning on Sunday during a multination exercise, officials said.

One of the injured was in a critical condition and the other two were in stable conditions, rescue helicopter operator CareFlight said in a statement. Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese said all three injured are American. The critically injured patient is a US Marine, Australian Broadcasting Corp (ABC) reported.

The Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft crashed on Melville Island during Exercise Predators Run, which involves the militaries of the United States, Australia, Indonesia, the Philippines and East Timor, the Australian Defense Department said.

The injured were flown by helicopter to Royal Darwin Hospital about 100km (60 miles) to the south, CareFlight said. No fatalities were reported and multiple military personnel rescued from the crash site in Australia’s Northern Territory.

The crash occured during an exercise on the Tiwi Islands, north of Darwin.

“Initial reports suggest the incident involves United States defence personnel and that Australian Defence Force members were not involved,” the ministry said in an emailed statement.

Mr Albanese said his government was focussed on providing support. Mr Albanese, speaking at a previously scheduled press conference, declined to provide details about the crash or rescue efforts.

“Our focus as a government and as a department of defence is very much on incident response and on making sure that every support and assistance is given at this difficult time,” he said.

The US Defense Department was aware of media reports about the crash “but we do not have anything we can provide at this time”, a duty officer said in an emailed statement.

The US and Australia, a key ally in the Pacific, have been stepping up military cooperation in recent years in the face of an increasingly assertive China.

Four Australian soldiers were killed last month during large bilateral exercises when their helicopter crashed into the ocean off the coast of Queensland.

(With inputs from agencies)