Four missing after ADF helicopter crash
A major search and rescue mission is underway for four air crew members after an Australian Defence Force helicopter crashed into the ocean near Hamilton Island in Queensland's Whitsundays.
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00:00 We do have some details now from the Defence Minister Richard Miles, although the picture
00:06 is still not entirely clear. But what Richard Miles said is that there were essentially
00:11 two helicopters on a training mission and one of those helicopters, a Taipan, ditched
00:16 into the water off Hamilton Island. Now there were four aircrew on board. At this stage
00:22 they are still missing. Now we do not know whether there is any prospect of them being
00:27 found but you can understand why the Defence Minister and the Chief of the ADF, the CDF,
00:34 Angus Campbell, were so grim-faced given this crash happened at about 10.30pm last night.
00:40 We're now coming up to almost 12 hours after that and no survivors have yet been found.
00:45 So you can understand why the CDF and the Defence Minister hold grave fears for their
00:50 safety. Now let's take a listen to what the Defence Minister had to say laying out this
00:55 tragic accident and the CDF, Angus Campbell, speaking after that as he expressed to the
01:02 media the deep sorrow that was being felt across the Army on today's events.
01:08 But defence exercises which are so necessary for the readiness of our Defence Force are
01:16 serious. They carry risk. And as we desperately hope for better news during the course of
01:24 this day, we are reminded about the gravity of the act which comes with wearing our nation's
01:33 uniform.
01:34 It is indeed a terrible moment. I really deeply appreciate the assistance that has been provided
01:42 by a variety of civil agencies, the Queensland Police, the Australian Maritime Safety Agency
01:52 and the public, as well as our US allies, all of whom have come together to assist,
02:00 to continue the search and rescue and to find our people.
02:03 No doubt a very difficult day for the families of the four air crewmen. Stephen, what do
02:10 we know about these helicopters?
02:13 Look I think it is worth pointing out even at this very early stage that this fleet of
02:19 Taipans has been a very troubled one. Now that doesn't necessarily mean there is anything
02:24 wrong with the choppers. It could also potentially come down to the way that the ADF has handled
02:29 them. But there have been a series of accidents and controversies surrounding this fleet.
02:34 We saw in March earlier this year another helicopter from this fleet, a Taipan, go down
02:40 in Jarvis Bay with 10 personnel on board. Now that was in shallow waters and very happily
02:46 there were no injuries or fatalities. As a result of that all 10 personnel were recovered.
02:53 But the fleet was actually grounded after that and not long after that happened it was
02:57 also revealed by the ABC that at least in some instances a critical software patch that
03:03 is necessary to upgrade the software on these helicopters was not installed on all of those
03:09 Taipans with some inside the Army and the Air Force blaming that failure for the accident.
03:18 Now the government has actually moved to replace the Taipans with Blackhawks. That was announced
03:23 by the former government under Peter Dutton. But it has been a troubled fleet with a fraught
03:29 history. I should stress we do not know the cause of this accident or whether any of these
03:34 problems that the ABC has reported on previously amongst others has anything to do with this
03:38 specific accident. We will have to wait and see what information comes out on that. But
03:44 I think it is worth pointing out that there has been this history of difficulties with
03:48 the Taipans and no doubt that that controversy may well deepen after this latest tragic accident.
03:54 Of course this accident is occurring while the Osmond talks are underway in Brisbane.
04:01 How are the negotiations going? Yeah that's right and undeniably this tragic
04:07 accident will to some extent overshadow what's happening in Osmond. At the very least it
04:12 will be very much on the minds I'd say of all of those who are participating. Perhaps
04:16 particularly the Defence Minister Richard Miles and Lloyd Austin, the US Defence Secretary,
04:21 as they sit down in Brisbane with Penny Wong and Antony Blinken, the US Secretary of State.
04:26 Now there will be a strong defence focus on these talks, in particular a plan by the United
04:30 States and Australia to bring forward the capacity for Australia to produce guided weapons
04:35 and missiles in Australia. They want to start doing that in two years. That's a quicker
04:40 timetable than some anticipated. It will require the United States to actually hand over intellectual
04:46 property to stand up that industry here. But it's something that Australia is very pleased
04:50 with because it will not only give us the capacity to build up our own stocks, but it
04:55 will also potentially give the Americans another source of munitions which could be very useful.
05:00 We've seen with the war in Ukraine the way that at the moment those stocks can run very
05:04 low very quickly and so it makes sense for the United States to diversify. It won't just
05:09 be security though, there will also be discussions on climate change and efforts by the US and
05:14 Australia to try and make the transition to renewables happen much more quickly, particularly
05:19 in our region, as well as China and its regional ambitions with Australia and the US determined
05:25 to do everything possible to try and make sure China doesn't emerge as a major security
05:30 player in the Pacific.
05:31 [BLANK_AUDIO]