A rollout of a substitute fleet for the Taipan army helicopters might be thorough and will not be rushed due to one other crash, the federal authorities says.
A MRH-90 Taipan plane crashed through the multi-nation Train Talisman Sabre off the north Queensland coast final week, killing 4 Australian Defence Drive members on board.
It was the second incident involving a Taipan helicopter this 12 months, after a crash off the NSW coast in March throughout a coaching train.
The previous coalition authorities introduced in 2021 the fleet would get replaced by Black Hawks.
Defence Minister Richard Marles stated the Taipans would stay grounded till the Queensland incident was investigated.
However he talked down a faster substitute course of.
“I would not wish to elevate expectations round having the Black Hawks in service sooner,” he informed reporters in Canberra.
“It’s each a query of getting the airframes come to Australia, but additionally a query of constructing certain that each one the suitable coaching and credentialling is completed for individuals who function the Black Hawks in order that that may be finished in a protected means.”
The Taipans are attributable to come out of service on the finish of 2024.
Shadow defence minister Andrew Hastie, who flew in Black Hawks when he was with the Particular Air Service Regiment, stated the brand new plane “cannot come quickly sufficient”.
“From a coalition perspective, we might assist the expedition of that plane into service,” he informed the ABC.
He stated the Taipan was “not an inherently unsafe plane”.
“The issue actually with this plane is it’s so magnificently engineered that it is rather arduous to get the hours out of it that the military needed.”
A restoration operation continues for the our bodies of Captain Danniel Lyon, Lieutenant Maxwell Nugent, Warrant Officer Class Two Joseph Laycock and Corporal Alexander Naggs.
