Missing U.S. Marines Off Australia Presumed Dead, Search Suspended
It’s been almost 12 hours since an MV-22 Osprey carrying 26 people entered the water off the coast of Australia, and after hours looking for them, the search has been officially suspended. Everyone has been rescued except for three Marines according to the III Marine Expeditionary Force.
The search was officially called off around 3 a.m., local time, with the Navy and Marine Corps switching their focus to recovery efforts, according to a statement sent by the Expeditionary Force to the New York Times.
A press release on the incident was also sent out to news outlets by the Expeditionary Force, indicating that the next-of-kin of the three Marines had already been notified of the situation.
Suspending the search was not an easy decision, but it was the only logical one, after the efforts — which included aid from ships and aircraft — yielded no results.
Recovery efforts, they say, will be carried out “as the sea permits.”
“Recovery and salvage operations can take several months to complete, but can be extended based on several environmental factors.”
A reason for the crash is yet to be determined, and an investigation is still underway to know exactly what happened to the aircraft and what was the reason for the collision.
Full release from US III Marine Expeditionary Force @IIIMEF re deaths of 3 marines off Shoalwater Bay, QLD. pic.twitter.com/0gApAipH90
— Joel Dry (@JoelDry7) August 6, 2017
The hybrid aircraft “was conducting regularly scheduled operations” off the east coast of Australia, and carrying 26 members of the Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 265 (Reinforced), when it entered the water.
Small boats and aircraft that were part of the USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) — from where the MV-22 had launched — responded immediately to the event, and the rescue of most of the passengers was successfully made.
The Expeditionary Force has taken to Twitter to keep the public informed on the accident, the search and rescue efforts, and the sad news of focusing now on recovery efforts.
For more information on the recovery efforts, please view Press release #17-014 Found here: https://t.co/HIU2YDEKNE pic.twitter.com/qOumh3JfY4
— III MEF Marines (@IIIMEF) August 6, 2017
Unfortunately, not all recovery efforts are successful. The Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, for example, disappeared completely on March 8, 2014, while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. While recovery efforts have been made ever since, not much has been found; therefore, there is a chance that recovery of remains may take even longer than expected.
[Featured Image by Jason Reed – Pool/Getty Images]
