A representative from Australia’s Department of Defence confirmed on Thursday that unidentified human remains were spotted in the submerged debris field of a military helicopter, which crashed into waters off the coast of Queensland last week.
Chief of Joint Operations Greg Bilton updated reporters on the recovery operations of the chopper at a press conference in Brisbane.
Bilton said positive identification of the remains is unlikely to occur until more of the wreckage is recovered.
According to the officer, the cockpit was located approximately 40 meters below the sea surface. Despite the deployment of the ADV Reliant, it would still be difficult to drag the main airframe back up from such depth.
Bilton also noted that the black box has yet to be found.
On July 28, the MRH-90 Taipan helicopter with four crew members aboard participated in night-time training as part of Exercise Talisman Sabre 2023, a bilateral joint military exercise between Australia and the United States, and crashed near Lindeman Island at about 11:00 p.m. local time.
