Search called off for 3Marines who crashed off Australia coast

SYDNEY — U.S. military officials called off a search and rescue operation on Sunday for three U.S. Marines who were missing after their Osprey aircraft crashed into the sea off the east coast ofAustralia while trying to land.

The Navy and Marine Corps suspended the rescue operation and launched a recovery effort instead, the Marine base Camp Butler in Japan said in a statement, essentially confirming the military does not expect to find the missingMarines alive.

TheMarines’ next of kin had been notified, and Australia’s defense force was assisting the Americans with the recovery effort, the statement said.

The MV-22 Osprey had launched from the USS Bonhomme Richard and was conducting regularly scheduled operations on Saturday when it crashed, Camp Butler said. The ship’s small boats and aircraft immediately responded in the search and rescue efforts, and 23 of 26 personnel aboard the aircraftwere rescued.

“Recovery and salvage operations can take several months to complete, but can be extended based on several environmental factors,” Camp Butler’s statement said. “The circumstances of the mishap are currently under investigation, and there is no additional information available at this time.”

The Osprey is a tilt-rotor aircraft that takes off and lands like a helicopter but flies like an airplane. They have been involved in a series of high-profile crashes in recent years.

The aircraft was in Australia for a joint military training exercise held by the U.S. and Australia last month in Shoal water Bay in Queensland state.