“Restoration efforts are ongoing,” US officials said. He said that investigation has been started into the cause of the incident.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described the incident as “sad” and “regrettable”, but stressed that authorities were still trying to piece together what happened.
“We want to make sure that whatever information is given is absolutely accurate,” he told reporters.
The Osprey – a mix of a helicopter and an aircraft – was participating in exercise Predators Run, a joint series of combat exercises involving thousands of troops from the US and Australia, as well as other forces such as Indonesia and the Philippines. ,
Northern Australia has become an important staging ground for the US military in recent years, as Washington and Canberra work together to counter China’s growing clout in the Asia-Pacific region.