By Laura Lavelle for ABC News
Troops from the US, Australia, France and New Zealand have been conducting operations as part of Exercise Talisman Sabre. Photo: Australian Defence Force, ABIS Rikki-Lea Phillips
There is no longer hope that four crew onboard an Australian Army helicopter that crashed in Queensland's Whitsundays have survived, Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles has said.
"As such the nature of the activities which are being undertaken in the Whitsundays have transferred from being ones of search and rescue to an activity of recovery," he said.
"The families of the four aircrew were notified of this this morning."
The MRH90 Taipan ditched into the ocean south of Hamilton Island during a nocturnal training mission.
Four crew were on board at the time - Captain Danniel Lyon, Lieutenant Maxwell Nugent, Warrant Officer Class Two Joseph Laycock and Corporal Alexander Naggs.
Some debris from the chopper has been recovered but the main cabin of the helicopter has not yet been located.
Marles said he had spoken to the families of the four men in the last hour, and told them "the determined recovery effort", involving hundreds of ADF personnel, will continue.
"We are all obviously left wondering what happened. Foremost in our minds in this moment must be the families of these four men and their teammates. And with them in mind, idle speculation is obviously harmful.
"But there will be a full investigation and we will come to understand exactly what happened and learn the lessons from it. But what we do know is that defence exercises are serious. They carry risk, and as such, they are dangerous, but they are so important."
The Taipan fleet has been grounded, and "will not fly again" until it was understood "what happened", he said.
Marles said the transition to Blackhawks had begun.
"The MRH90s were due to come out of service at the end of next year. We will move through the process of putting the Blackhawks into service as quickly as we can, but ... we will not be flying MRH90s until we understand what has happened."
Chief of Defence Angus Campbell said part of the airframe had been recovered, but the majority of the wreckage was yet to be found.
He said sonar equipment would be used to identify pieces of wreckage, but it was not an easy operation.
"The depths are below the standard of a diving operation and that means that we have had to use sonar equipment to identify pieces of the wreckage, but we will also have to use divers and some specialist divers to support this activity."
General Campbell said he was confident the men's bodies would be recovered.
"We will do everything possible to bring our mates home to their families," he said.
He said the military exercise, Talisman Sabre, will continue.
Asked about reports of a mayday call, General Campbell and Marles said they were unable to comment.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said it had "been a very difficult weekend for our nation".
"Our worst fears have been confirmed," he said.
"I know that every member of [Parliament] House, along with every Australian, is thinking of the families of [the missing crew].
"They were soldiers and they were sons, husbands, brothers, fathers, and friends and today our deepest sympathies are with the people who loved them."
Earlier on Monday, Defence Personnel Minister Matt Keogh was asked whether the MRH90 helicopters, which have been historically plagued by difficulties, should be permanently grounded.
"The fleet is grounded temporarily at this stage, whilst the search is underway," Mr Keogh said.
"After the incident earlier this year [in Jervis Bay, NSW] there were mitigations put in place and the operation of the MRH90 to improve safety in those operations.
"In terms of what happens longer term with the MRH90 before they're retired at the end of next year, obviously further work needs to be undertaken in terms of investigation.
"But our focus right now is on the search operation, and supporting their families."
Premier thanks search crews
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk thanked the state's emergency personnel involved in the search.
"I want to thank all of the personnel that are involved in the search and recovery. An absolute tragedy during those military exercises," she said.
Police Minister Mark Ryan said officers were also supporting the defence naval divers.
"The Queensland Police Service as well as our volunteer marine rescue services have been very engaged with this terrible tragedy and of course are assisting defence," he said.
"The latest that I've got is that defence naval divers are engaged today and are obviously being supported by Queensland Police Service divers as well."
- This story was first published bythe ABC
