Osprey crash in Tiwi Islands kills 3 US Marines, injures 20 during a multinational military exercise called Predators Run involving US, Australian, Indonesian, Philippine and Timor-Leste.

US military Osprey plane during a multinational military exercise called Predators Run involving US, Australian, Indonesian, Philippine and Timor-Leste military personnel crashed in the Tiwi Islands near Darwin and 3 US Marines were killed and 20 were injured, five were transported to the Royal Darwin Hospital in serious condition.

Darwin Marine Rotation Force, a US Marine Corps air-ground task force based in the NT, said the incident happened at 9:30 am on Sunday.

NT Police Commissioner Michael Murphy said two Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft took off from Darwin bound for the Tiwi Islands on Sunday morning.

Since the Osprey tiltrotor aircraft began flying 33 years ago, 51 servicemen have been killed. An Osprey crashed in Rockhampton in the year 2017 after hitting the deck of a US ship, killing three US Marines. Some were grounded after a fatal accident in California this year 2023. However, it has a lower accident rate compared to many other aircraft flown by the United States military.

The Osprey takes off like a helicopter, so the engines lean forward, allowing it to fly at speeds much faster than a helicopter.