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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has paid tribute to the four crew who died one year ago when their Taipan crashed near Hamilton Island.
The accident, which took place during Exercise Talisman Sabre, resulted in the deaths of Captain Danniel Lyon, Lieutenant Maxwell Nugent, Warrant Officer Class Two Joseph Laycock, and Corporal Alexander Naggs.
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“Our thoughts are with their families, their loved ones, their friends and the entire Australian Defence Force community,” Prime Minister Albanese said.
“I had the great honour of meeting the families of these four great Australians at the memorial service that was held privately by the Defence Force, and I know that today will be a very difficult day for them.
“To the Australian Army and to the Australian defence community, this is a broader family, and I know that it will be felt today. So we know them, we mourn them, and today we remember them, as we will every day.”
At one point, the search for the men, based at the Holsworthy Barracks in Sydney, involved upwards of 800 people, including those from the US, Australian and Canadian militaries.
Simon Stuart, Head of Army, previously hailed the foursome as part of a “highly professional, highly skilled aviation unit” and said he “couldn’t be more proud of them”.
The incident was significantly one of a string of accidents involving the Taipan, which was separately grounded in 2019, 2021 and earlier in 2023.
It led to the federal government eventually deciding to ground the aircraft permanently and accelerate the delivery of its replacement, the Black Hawk.
Later, an independent inquiry into the incident was announced, which is still ongoing.
