Four American soldiers died in the Osprey accident in Norway during a NATO exercise
HELSINKI (AP) – Four U.S. soldiers were killed when their Osprey plane crashed into a Norwegian city in the Arctic Circle during a non-NATO war exercise, the Norwegian prime minister and defense officials said on Saturday.
Jonas Gahr Stoere tweeted that they died in an accident Friday night. The cause is being investigated, but Norwegian police reported bad weather in the area.
“The soldiers participated in the NATO Cold Response exercise,” Gahr Stoere said. “Our deepest condolences to the families of the soldiers, their relatives and the comrades in the unit.”
The plane was a V-22B Osprey belonging to the U.S. Marine Corps, Norwegian Armed Forces said. According to the statement, it “had a crew of four and was on a training mission in Nordland County” in northern Norway.
It was on its way north to Bodo, where it was due to land just before 6pm on Friday. Osprey plunged to the ground in Graetaedalen, Beiarn, south of Bodo. According to police, the search and rescue operation was launched immediately. Police arrived at the scene on Saturday at 1:30 a.m. and confirmed the four-person crew had died.
“We can confirm that there has been an incident on the Marine MV-22B Osprey,” the U.S. Marine said in a tweet. “The cause of the incident will be investigated and further information will be provided where possible.”
The annual NATO exercises in Norway are not related to the war in Ukraine. This year, they include about 30,000 troops, 220 aircraft and 50 ships from 27 countries. Finland and Sweden, which are not members of NATO, are also included.
The rehearsals began on March 14 and end on April 1.
The reason was not given in vain, but the Norwegian Armed Forces said that the Cold Response “thinks as planned, with the necessary measures due to the weather”.
A Norwegian rescue helicopter spotted the crash site late Friday, and local Red Cross crews were ordered to help police in the country, Norwegian media reported.
Norwegian newspaper VG said members of the Red Cross drove near the scene of the accident on scooters and marked the path with GPS to police, which they described as extremely difficult weather conditions at the beginning of Saturday.
“It was a special night, it was a real storm. There were five of us driving towards the scene of the accident. There was a meter of visibility, snow and storm in the mountains,” Red Cross team leader Oerjan Kristensen told VG. When it blows like that, it’s hard to stand up. “
Kristensen added that the rescue operation is hampered by the danger of landslides in the mountains and the remoteness of the scene of the accident.
Police launched an investigation into the accident and members of the accident board and police were scheduled to arrive at the scene of the accident on Saturday.
“The weather in the area is very bad to do the work on site, but the police will take up the matter again as soon as the weather conditions allow,” Executive Director Ivar Bo Nilsson of the Norland Police District told reporters.
Lieutenant General Yngve Odlo, Chief of the Norwegian Armed Forces Operational Staff, said Cold Response continues despite the accident.
“Currently, the focus is entirely on ending the rescue operation, taking care of the people and then there is a normal causal procedure,” Odlo told Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation NRK.
The first Cold Response exercise was held in 2006 and has been held a total of eight times over the years. They take place in south-eastern, central and northern Norway.