BRISBANE, Australia: Wreckage has been found from a military helicopter that crashed in the Pacific Ocean, Australian police said on Saturday, but after a day-and-night search there was no sign of the four missing crew members.
Queensland Police Superintendent Douglas Macdonald said: "We have found a number of pieces of debris that appear to be from the missing helicopter." "At this time it is a search and rescue operation."
Australia had earlier called off a major military exercise with the US on Saturday after a helicopter participating in the exercise crashed.
Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles said the MRH-90 Taipan went down in sub-tropical waters off Hamilton Island, Queensland, late on Friday night.
It was taking part in the massive exercise Talisman Saber, which involved 30,000 military personnel from Australia, the United States and several other countries.
"As we speak to you, four aircrew are still unaccounted for." Marles said after the nearly overnight search, which will continue Saturday.
AFP believes all four crew members on board the helicopter are Australian.
"The families of all four aircrew have been notified of this incident and our hopes and thoughts are with the aircrew and their families," Marles added.
"We desperately hope for good news during the day."
Officials are yet to say what led to the incident, which occurred as the Talisman Saber exercise was entering its second week.
The exercises are designed to test large-scale logistics, ground combat, naval landings and air operations and give an indication of the strength of the Western military alliance.
Japan, France, Germany and South Korea are also participating.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is in Australia with US Secretary of State Anthony Blanken for meetings that coincide with the exercises.
Both men offered their help, as U.S. officials assisted in rescue efforts.
"It's always difficult when you have accidents," Austin said. "But ultimately the reason you have such a high standard of training is so you can protect lives."
It is not yet clear whether the military exercises that ended on August 4 will resume or not.
Australia is currently embarking on a major overhaul of its armed forces, turning to long-range strike capabilities in an effort to keep potential adversaries such as China at arm's length.
Even before the incident, Canberra had announced it would replace its fleet of aging Taipan helicopters with American-made Blackhawks.
Australian officials have complained about the frequent grounding of the European-made Taipan, citing difficulties in obtaining maintenance and spare parts.
"We just don't have the flight times from Taipan that we need. We believe we can get it from Blackhawks," Marles said in January of this year.
In March, an MRH-90 Taipan flying south of Sydney suffered engine failure during a nighttime training exercise, ejecting the crew into the sea.
They escaped with only minor injuries, but the entire Taipan fleet was grounded for a month.
