Four US Troops Die In Plane Crash In Norway
By Donald Standeford, Correspondent - Follow -
Date Published: March 19, 2022 05:30PM UTC
Last Modified: March 19, 2022 05:30PM UTC
NORWAY - Four U.S. Marines have died in a plane crash in Norway in the Arctic Circle during a NATO exercise that was reportedly not in any way related to the war in Ukraine according to Norway's Prime Minister.
Jonas Gahr Støre put out a tweet regarding the crash on Friday. The cause of the crash is still under investigation, but the Norwegian police had reported bad weather in the area around the time the incident happened.
Gahr Støre stated "The soldiers participated in the NATO exercise Cold Response. Our deepest sympathies go to the soldiers’ families, relatives, and fellow soldiers in their unit".
The aircraft involved in the crash was a V-22B Osprey belonging to the United States Marine Corps according to Norway's armed forces. A statement regarding the incident said, "The aircraft had a crew of four and was out on a training mission in Nordland County".
The plane crashed in in Graetaedalen in Beiarn which is south of Bodoe. Police stated that they carried out search and rescue immediately after the crash was reported. The plane had been scheduled to land at 6 p.m. on Friday. Police arrived at the crash scene at 1:30 a.m. on Saturday and confirmed the deaths of all four crew members.
The United States Marine Corps put out a statement saying, "We can confirm an incident has occurred involving a Marine Corps MV-22B Osprey aircraft. The cause of the incident is under investigation, and additional details will be provided as available".
Reportedly unrelated annual NATO drills called "Cold Response" is being carried out in the region which includes 30,000 troops, 220 aircraft and 50 ships from 27 different countries.
The exercises began March 14th and will end on April 1st. The Norwegian armed forces have said that Cold Response "will carry on as planned, with the measures we have to take due to the weather".
Operations manager Ivar Bo Nilsson from the Norland police district said, "The weather is very bad in the area to complete work at the scene, but police will take it up again as soon as the weather conditions allow it".
