FILE - The USS Bonhomme Richard
amphibious assault ship sails in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of
Sydney after a ceremony on board the ship marking the start of Talisman
Saber 2017, a biennial joint military exercise between the United States
and Austra
U.S. military aircraft and boats are searching for three U.S. Marines
who are missing after their tilt-rotor aircraft crashed into the sea
Saturday off Australia's east coast, according to a Marine Corps
statement.
Twenty-three other people aboard the MV-22 Osprey have been rescued.
The aircraft had been launched from the USS Bonhomme Richard assault ship and was involved in routine operations when it crashed, the statement said.
A White House official said President Donald Trump, who is vacationing at his golf club in Bedminister, New Jersey, was briefed on the incident by his chief of staff, retired Marine Corps General John Kelly.
FILE - A U.S. Marines MV-22 Osprey Aircraft lands
on the deck of the USS Bonhomme Richard amphibious assault ship off the
coast of Sydney, Australia, June 29, 2017.
The aircraft was still in Australia after completing a joint
U.S.-Australian military training exercise two weeks ago in Shoalwater
Bay.
The biennial exercise involved about 30,000 troops and 200 aircraft. Australian troops are among U.S.-led coalition forces fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The Marine Corps did not say what caused the crash but indicated it is under investigation.
The Osprey is designed to take off like a helicopter and rotate its propellers to fly like a plane. Its development was almost canceled after 23 Marines were killed during a test flight in 2000.
The U.S. military grounded its Osprey fleet in Japan last December after one of them crash-landed into the sea, injuring five crew members.
Twenty-three other people aboard the MV-22 Osprey have been rescued.
The aircraft had been launched from the USS Bonhomme Richard assault ship and was involved in routine operations when it crashed, the statement said.
A White House official said President Donald Trump, who is vacationing at his golf club in Bedminister, New Jersey, was briefed on the incident by his chief of staff, retired Marine Corps General John Kelly.
The biennial exercise involved about 30,000 troops and 200 aircraft. Australian troops are among U.S.-led coalition forces fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The Marine Corps did not say what caused the crash but indicated it is under investigation.
The Osprey is designed to take off like a helicopter and rotate its propellers to fly like a plane. Its development was almost canceled after 23 Marines were killed during a test flight in 2000.
The U.S. military grounded its Osprey fleet in Japan last December after one of them crash-landed into the sea, injuring five crew members.
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