Australia halts Talisman Sabre military exercise after chopper crashes into Pacific; four missing

A major US-Australia military exercise was paused after a defence helicopter that was part of the drills crashed into the Pacific, leaving four crew members missing on Saturday.

Australia's Defence Minister Richard Marles said the MRH-90 Taipan went down late Friday night in sub-tropical waters near Hamilton Island, Queensland.

The chopper was taking part in Australia's Talisman Sabre exercise which features over 30,000 military personnel from Australia, US and other nations.

"As we speak to you now, the four aircrew are yet to be found," Marles said after a nearly overnight search, which is set to continue Saturday.

According to AFP, all four missing crew members are Australian.

"The families of the four aircrew have been notified of this incident and our hopes and thoughts are very much with the aircrew and their families," Marles added.

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"We desperately hope for better news during the course of this day."

It is, however, still not clear what caused the accident.

About Talisman Sabre

The Talisman Sabre exercise is a biennial combined Australian and United States (US) training activity that is participated by allied forces.

It is designed to train respective military force elements in planning and conducting Combined Task Force operations to improve combat readiness and interoperability between the ADF and its allies.

It is a major combined (ie international) and joint (ie Army, Navy and Air Force and Marines) exercise involving thousands of troops on the land, sea and in the air and major assets such as Australian and allied warships, fighters, bombers, helicopters and armour and artillery.