Military officials said no one was to blame for the crash and that the three young Marines killed all died in the line of duty
Footage released by the Daily Mail shows the moment an MV-22 Osprey helicopter crashed into the side of a US warship in 2017, killing three marines on board.
The clip, first posted online on Saturday, June 2, shows the helicopter, which can fly like a plane and hover like a helicopter, attempting to land on the deck of the US Green Bay off the coast of Queensland, Australia, on August 5, 2017.
But the helicopter suddenly begins to lose control, causing it to crash and 3 young Marines to lose their lives. As can be seen in the video, the helicopter hits its left engine compartment off the deck while pitching dramatically, with the sailor filming it running for safety as it begins to disappear from view.
Moments later, the Bell-Boeing helicopter, carrying 26 members of Squadron 265, crashed into the Pacific Ocean.
Due to a hole in the cockpit, the damaged aircraft was quickly flooded with water, causing it to sink. Three marines died, whose bodies were recovered after a 12-hour search.
The dead were 26-year-old Lt. Benjamin Cross, of Oxford, Maine, 21-year-old Lt. Nathaniel Ordway, of Sedgwick, Kansas, and 19-year-old Lt. Ruben Velasco, of Los Angeles.
Military officials said no one was to blame for the crash and that the three young Marines killed all died in the line of duty and not as a result of misconduct. A Pentagon investigation later concluded that the helicopter crashed due to mechanical failure.
After the crash, Lt. Capt. Robert Cross’ father, Robert Cross, told CBS News that his son had great faith in the safety of the … controversial aircraft, even after a 2000 crash in Arizona that killed 19 Marines. Cross said:He told me that they had so many safety systems on the plane that if one of them failed, there was always a backup».
Last month, five Marines were killed when another Osprey crashed in the California desert, raising even more fears about the helicopter’s safety.
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