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Human remains and parts of a cockpit have been found in the area where four army aircrew members died when their helicopter crashed last week off the Queensland coast.

Lieutenant-General Greg Bilton told reporters the search-and-recovery mission had identified a “further debris field” in the sea near Hamilton Island that was consistent with a catastrophic, high-impact crash.

Lieutenant-General Greg Bilton said parts of the helicopter’s cockpit had been found, as well as unidentified human remains. Credit: Michelle Smith

“Sadly, I can confirm human remains have also been observed in this location by [a] remote underwater vehicle,” he said. “Due to the nature of the debris field, positive identification of the remains is unlikely to occur until we recover more of the wreckage.”

Warrant Officer Class 2 Joseph “Phil” Laycock, Corporal Alexander Naggs, Troop Commander Captain Daniel Lyon and Lieutenant Maxwell Nugent were on board the MRH-90 Taipan helicopter when it crashed during military training exercises on Friday night.

Defence Minister Richard Marles announced on Monday that all four crew members were presumed dead and the search-and-rescue mission had become a recovery mission.

Bilton said Australian Defence Vessel Reliant, a modern navy auxiliary ship, had been called in to assist with the search-and-recovery effort.

He said those involved were searching at a depth of 40 metres, but the strong currents in the Whitsundays made the recovery effort difficult.

Bilton said the black box inside the aircraft was still missing, adding: “All communications were normal before the aircraft impacted the water.

“The black box is critical in helping us understand what has actually taken place … It is important to collect as much of the debris as we can, so we can fully understand how this incident occurred.”

The helicopter was taking part in Talisman Sabre, the nation’s biggest military training exercise.

The entire Taipan fleet has been grounded following the accident, and the government has said it will not fly again until the cause of the crash has been identified.

The Taipans have been plagued with technical problems during their term of service, and the fleet of 47 aircraft was suspended from use in March when one of the helicopters crashed into shallow waters off Jervis Bay on the NSW South Coast.

The federal opposition is calling on the government to try to accelerate the replacement of the Taipans with a $2.8 billion fleet of Black Hawks from the United States before the scheduled date of December 2024.

“I do not think that can come soon enough, frankly,” opposition defence spokesman Andrew Hastie, a former Special Air Service captain, said this week.

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