SYDNEY (AP) — U.S. military officials called off a search and rescue operation on Sunday for three U.S. Marines who were missing after their Osprey aircraft crashed into the sea off the east coast of Australia while trying to land. A statement Saturday from the Marine base Camp Butler in Japan said that ships, small boats and aircraft from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit and Bonhomme Richard Expeditionary Strike Group were conducting the operations following the incident involving an MV-22 Osprey. The recent joint military exercise took place largely in Shoalwater Bay and involved more than 30,000 US and Australian personnel, according to Australian Defense Department. “As the sea state permits, recovery efforts will be conducted to further search, assess and survey the area, in coordination and with assistance from the Australian Defence Force.”

The Marines said the recovery and salvage operations could take several months to complete, while the cause of the incident was currently being investigated. “The United States are leading the search and recovery effort.”

Payne said she had spoken with U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis “to offer Australia’s support in any way that can be of assistance.”

The Osprey aircraft were in Australia for a joint military training exercise held by the U.S. and Australia last month in Shoalwater Bay. The MV-22 was deployed to Queensland as part of “Talisman Sabre,” a military exercise involving 33,000 personnel, 33 ships, and 200 aircraft from the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and Canada. “The circumstances of the mishap are currently under investigation, and there is no additional information available at this time.”

The Osprey is a tilt-rotor aircraft that takes off and lands like a helicopter, but flies like an airplane. The MV-22B “Osprey” tilt rotor aircraft, which can take off and land vertically but fly like an airplane, has a crew of four and can carry up to the 32 people.They have been involved in a series of high-profile crashes in recent years. In 2015, a U.S. Osprey crashed during a training exercise in Hawaii, killing two Marines. In December, the U.S. Osprey squadron was grounded in Japan after an Osprey crashed into the sea, injuring five people after a hose broke during a refueling operation. Its five crew members were rescued safely. And in January, three U.S. soldiers were wounded in the “hard landing” of an Osprey in Yemen.
The search for three members of the United States Marines Corps lost in a MV-22 Osprey crash in Shoalwater Bay in the Australian state of Queensland is called off.