The submerged wreckage of a US military aircraft has been found, two days after it crashed into the sea off the east coast of Australia and left three US Marines presumed dead.
The submerged wreckage of a US military aircraft has been found, two days after it crashed into the sea off the east coast of Australia and left three US Marines presumed dead.
An Australian navy ship arrived in Shoalwater Bay in Queensland state on Sunday night to help the US military hunt for the MV-22 Osprey, which the Marines said was conducting regularly scheduled operations on Saturday when it crashed into the water.
The wreckage was found shortly thereafter, Australian Defence Minister Marise Payne said in a statement.
An Australian navy dive team plans to start the process of recovering the plane later, the US Marine base Camp Butler in Japan said in a statement.
Three Marines remain missing. The US Navy and Marine Corps called off a search and rescue operation for them on Sunday and launched a recovery effort instead, essentially confirming the military does not expect to find them alive.
Twenty-three other personnel who were on board the Osprey when it crashed were rescued.
The Osprey is a tilt-rotor aircraft that takes off and lands like a helicopter, but flies like an plane.
They have been involved in a series of high-profile crashes in recent years.
AP
