OSLO, Norway — All four U.S. personnel aboard a military aircraft died when the plane crashed Friday in a remote area of northern Norway during a NATO training exercise, the Norwegian armed forces said in a prepared statement issued Saturday.
Update 11:47 p.m. EDT March 20: The U.S. Marine Corps identified late Sunday the four Marines killed in the crash as Capt. Matthew J. Tomkiewicz of Fort Wayne, Indiana; Capt. Ross A. Reynolds of Leominster, Massachusetts; Gunnery Sgt. James W. Speedy of Cambridge, Ohio; and Cpl. Jacob M. Moore of Catlettsburg, Kentucky, CNN reported.
All four victims were assigned to the 2nd Marine Air Wing, Fox News reported.
Although the cause of the crash remains under investigation, the fallen Marines have been removed from the crash site, and officials are working to secure their return to the United States, CNN reported.
Original report: The U.S. Marine Corps confirmed just before 7 p.m. Friday that the crash involved one of its MV-22B Osprey aircraft.
We can confirm an incident has occurred involving a Marine Corps MV-22B Osprey aircraft.
— U.S. Marines (@USMC) March 18, 2022
The aircraft was conducting training in Norway as part of Exercise COLD RESPONSE 22 at the time of the incident.
The aircraft was participating in Cold Response 2022, a long-planned military exercise to practice defending Norwegian territory in cold-weather conditions in case of attack, Reuters reported.
According to Norway’s armed forces, the aircraft crashed en route to Bodo, on a peninsula in the Norwegian Sea, north of the Arctic Circle.
Rescuers arrived at the site overnight as local weather forecasts warned of strong winds, heavy rain and a risk of avalanches, The Washington Post reported.
“The search and rescue operation found what was an accident site. It has now sadly been confirmed that the crew on board the American aircraft died in the accident,” Norway’s chief of defense, Gen. Eirik Kristoffersen, said in a prepared statement.
We are aware of a mishap involving a U.S. Marine Corps MV-22B Osprey
— II MEF (@iimefmarines) March 19, 2022
assigned to II MEF in Norway this evening. More information will be released
here as it becomes available. pic.twitter.com/GstIlHZxZZ
According to the Post, some 30,000 troops from more than 27 NATO countries are participating in the training drills, which began this month and will continue until April, but the training, which takes place once every two years, was scheduled prior to Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion of neighboring Ukraine.
Meanwhile, the U.S. 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force, in an email to the Post, did not confirm the deaths but said four Marines went missing after “an aviation incident” with an MV-22B Osprey.
“As a matter of policy, identities of servicemembers are not released until 24-hours after all next-of-kin notifications have been completed,” the force added in its statement.
“Our deepest sympathies go to the soldiers’ families, relatives and fellow soldiers in their unit,” Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store said Saturday morning, the Post reported.
According to Reuters, rescuers reached the crash site in the early-morning hours Saturday after helicopters were unable to land due to the inclement weather.
“It is regrettably confirmed that all four on board the plane have perished,” Ivar Bo Nilsson, head of the operation for Nordland police, said in a prepared statement obtained by the news outlet.
Norwegian police are investigating the crash, while the Norwegian military confirmed that the NATO exercise “will carry on as planned, with the measures we have to take due to the weather,” the Post reported.
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