Australia grounds MRH-90 helicopter fleet after crash

Australia's army chief says the military is grounding a fleet of military helicopters after a crash left four crew members missing.

Lt Gen Simon Stuart said none of the army's 45 MRH-90 Taipan helicopters would be flown again until they were found to be safe.

The crash took place during a US-Australian military exercise off Lindeman Island on Friday night.

Australia has previously grounded its Taipans for safety reasons.

"We are not flying the MRH-90 today and won't until we think it is safe to do so," Gen Stuart told reporters in Sydney on Sunday.

Friday's crash happened at about 22:30 local time (12:30 GMT) over the Whitsundays, a group of islands off the coast of Queensland.

The missing soldiers onboard the aircraft have now been identified as belonging to the Sixth Aviation Regiment, based in Sydney.

The helicopter went down during drills as part of Exercise Talisman Sabre, the largest bilateral military training exercise between Australia and the US.

Canberra had announced before the crash that it would be replacing its ageing European-made Taipan helicopters with US-made Black Hawks.

Officials had complained about having to repeatedly ground the fleet for maintenance and safety issues.

The fleet was pulled from the skies after an engine failure in one of the helicopters during a training exercise in March, forcing the crew to ditch into the sea off the coast of New South Wales.

There were no casualties and the other MRH-90s were returned to operations on 6 April with "risk mitigations".

Gen Stuart said the current aim was to keep the Taipans in service until 2024 but "what happens between now and then, from what we learn from this incident, is yet to be determined".

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described the recent crash as a stark reminder "that there are no safe or easy days for those who serve in our country's name".

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, speaking in the northern city of Townsville, said the US would provide any assistance it could.