Queensland helicopter crash: MRH-90 Taipan that crashed off Hamilton Island in the Whitsundays during the Talisman Saber has a troubled history of mechanical failure – as the search for missing aircrew continues

An army helicopter that crashed off the northern coast of Queensland, leaving four aircrew missing, has a troubled history plagued by mechanical problems.

More than 800 military and emergency services on Monday expanded their search for the four missing from the MRH-90 Taipan that crashed off Hamilton Island on Friday while participating in a joint military exercise between Australia and the US.

Specialized navy divers have been called to locate the helicopter cabin where the men may have been trapped.

Captain Daniel Lyon, Lieutenant Maxwell Nugent, Petty Officer Class Two Joseph Laycock and Corporal Alexander Naggs, all from the 6th Aviation Richmond Unit at Holsworthy Army barracks in Sydney, are the four feared dead.

It is now questionable whether the army’s 47 MRH-90 Taipans will ever fly again with the fleet grounded until the cause of the latest crash is determined.

It is the second time this year that the fleet has been grounded following an accident after a Taipan crashed off the south coast of NSW during a routine training exercise in March.

Witnesses reported a “big flash, a big bang and a little fire on top of the helicopter” before the plane hit the water.

Fortunately, the 10 soldiers on board were rescued and suffered only minor injuries.

Chief of the Australian Army, Lieutenant General Simon Stuart, defended flying the helicopters, saying the army had ‘mitigated risk’.

“We don’t fly if we don’t think it’s safe,” he said, holding a thorough investigation into the cause of Friday’s crash.

“Speculation between now and them doing their job is really useless, I’m not going to speculate and I would ask others to just consider the families, the other airmen involved and let that team do its job.” he said.

“We’ll find out in due course what those outcomes are and the goal of being armed with that knowledge is to make sure we understand what happened and we can prevent it from happening again.”

In 2019, the $3.8 billion MRH-90 Taipan fleet was grounded due to dangerous tail vibrations and auxiliary power unit problems that made it difficult to shut down the main engines.

Since 2019, the helicopters have been grounded five times due to mechanical problems.

There are also design flaws, as Parliament was told in 2020 that the helicopter’s door was too narrow for troops to fire while the craft was landing.

These issues led then-Secretary of Defense Peter Dutton to decide in late 2021 that the Taipans should be scrapped by December 2024, 13 years ahead of schedule.

While the first of the $2.8 billion 40 replacement Blackhawk helicopters will arrive within days, permanently grounding the Taipans would leave Australia short of military helicopters until the full shipment arrives.

Lieutenant General Stuart said on Sunday that the MRH-90 Taipans would be replaced as planned.

“The target is still 2024, what happens between now and then from what we learn from this incident is yet to be determined,” Lt. Gen. Stuart said.

“We just need some time, but today we are focused on getting them home, supporting their families and figuring out what happened.

“Which I suspect will take some time, given the difficulties of the site.”

Phillip Thompson, Member of Parliament for the Liberal Government of Queensland, whose electorate in Herbert occupies bases where the MRH-90s are used, expressed concern about the safety of the craft.

“We don’t know what caused this crash, so it’s hard to point the finger at the plane at this stage, but I know our people on board are very professional,” he said.

“We saw this helicopter, the MRH-90, crash earlier this year and the crew were all lucky to survive. It is a good move to keep these planes on the ground for the time being.’

Last year, Norway said it would return its MRH-90 helicopters to European manufacturer Airbus because they were too unreliable.

“Unfortunately, we have come to the conclusion that no matter how many hours our technicians work and how many parts we order, the NH90 will never be able to meet the requirements of the Norwegian armed forces,” said Norwegian Defense Minister Bjorn Arild Gram. said.

However, the New Zealand Air Force has operated eight MRH-90 helicopters since 2015 without a major incident.

The MRH-90 Taipan aircraft is one of the “most advanced tactical troop transport helicopters of the 21st century” according to the Australian Army.

It has a top speed of 300 km per hour with the ‘highest crash resistant standards’.

Designed by the European company Airbus, the MRH-90 Taipans were purchased in 2007 to replace the Army’s Black Hawks and Navy’s Sea Kings.

They have two pilots and two helicopter loadmasters with space for up to 18 passengers and are used for search and rescue missions or transporting troops into battle or behind enemy lines.

Friday’s crash, which occurred while troops were taking part in the massive Talisman Saber military training activity involving 30,000 servicemen, looks set to become Australia’s worst military tragedy in 18 years.

Nine ADF personnel were killed when their Sea King helicopter crashed in Indonesia while on a humanitarian mission in the aftermath of a major earthquake in 2005.

Debris consistent with a helicopter part was found near the crash site on Saturday, with reports that the fuselage was among the fragments pulled from the water.

An exclusion zone remains in effect in the waters south of Hamilton Island and includes the waters off the southern tip of Long Island, east to Perseverance Island, south to Cole Island, and west to the mainland at Round Head.

Anyone who finds any debris is requested not to touch or touch it and to call the police immediately.