2 US Marines killed, 2 injured in Morocco Osprey crash

UPDATE
Official: Osprey crashed after Marines unloaded
By Gina Cavallaro -
Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Apr 12, 2012

Two Marines were killed and two severely injured in the crash of an MV-22 Osprey during a training exercise in southern Morocco, the Marine Corps confirmed Wednesday.

The Osprey took off from amphibious assault ship Iwo Jima and crashed around 4 p.m. local time, moments after dropping off Marines at an inland location near Cap Draa, a military training area southwest of Agadir, Morocco.

The aircraft belonged to Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 261, an Osprey unit out of Marine Corps Air Station New River, N.C., and was attached to the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, which deployed from Camp Lejeune, N.C., on March 29.

The four victims were the only personnel aboard at the time of the crash. They received immediate care from Navy medical personnel on the ground before being evacuated by KC-130 transport planes to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, according to a 24th MEU news release.
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2 US Marines killed, 2 injured in Morocco
BY PAUL SCHEMM
Associated Press
Apr 11, 2012
RABAT, Morocco (AP)

Two U.S. Marines were killed and two severely injured in the crash of a hybrid aircraft in Morocco on Wednesday, officials said.

The Marines were taking part in joint U.S.-Moroccan military excercises located in the south of the country based in Agadir, said U.S. Embassy spokesman Rodney Ford in Rabat, who gave the toll.

Capt. Kevin Schultz, a Marine spokesman at the Pentagon in Washington, confirmed that the aircraft involved was an MV-22 Osprey, which takes off and lands like a helicopter and flies like an airplane. The aircraft was participating in a U.S.-Moroccan military exercise known as "African Lion."

The Osprey was flying from the amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima, a defense official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the matter is in the early stages of investigation.
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