Australia calls off search for 4 crewmen of crashed helicopter: ‘any hope of finding them alive has been lost’

The Australian army MRH-90 Taipan helicopter crashed on Friday during Talisman Sabre, a US-Australian military exercise held every two years

‘It is now clear that any hope of finding them alive has been lost,’ said Australia’s defence minister, who called the impact ‘catastrophic’

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Australian sailors scan the ocean on Saturday for remnants of the crashed helicopter near Queensland’s Lindeman Island. Photo: Australian Defence Handout via AFP

Published: 3:43pm, 31 Jul 2023

The Australian army helicopter that crashed on Friday during a multinational exercise hit the water with a “catastrophic impact” and there is no chance its four crew members survived, officials said on Monday.

Australia’s fleet of more than 40 of the MRH-90 Taipan helicopters, made by French Airbus, has been grounded since the crash and there are doubts any will fly again.

They will be grounded until crash investigators determine what caused the tragedy. The government announced in January it plans to replace them with 40 US Black Hawks. The Taipans’ retirement date of December 2024 would be 13 years earlier than Australia had initially planned.

Defence Minister Richard Marles said the search and rescue effort changed on Monday to a victim recovery operation with no chance that Captain Danniel Lyon, Lieutenant Maxwell Nugent, Warrant Officer Joseph Laycock or Corporal Alexander Naggs had survived.

Australia’s Defence Minister Richard Marles (left) speaks to the press on Monday alongside Chief of the Australian Defence Force General Angus Campbell. Photo: AAP/dpa

“There was a catastrophic incident and with every passing hour, it is now clear that any hope of finding [the four crew] alive has been lost,” Marles told reporters.

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