(FILES) In this file photo taken on May 26, 2015 A MV-22B Osprey aircraft is operated during the "Platinum Eagle 15" military exercise at training facilities in Babadag, Romania. - A US Osprey aircraft "was reported missing at 18:26 (1726 GMT) south of Bodo" in northern Norway in bad weather, the regional emergency services (HRS) said in a statement on March 19, 2022. (Photo by Daniel MIHAILESCU / AFP)
Four U.S. soldiers were killed when their Osprey aircraft crashed in a Norwegian town in the Arctic Circle during a NATO exercise unrelated to the Ukraine war, Norway’s prime minister and defense officials said Saturday March 19th.
Jonas Gahr Stoere tweeted that they were killed in the crash on Friday night. The cause was under investigation, but Norwegian police reported bad weather in the area.
“The soldiers participated in the NATO exercise Cold Response 2022,” Gahr Stoere said. “Our deepest sympathies go to the soldiers’ families, relatives and fellow soldiers in their unit.”
The aircraft was a V-22B Osprey that belongs to the U.S. Marine Corps, Norway’s armed forces said. It “had a crew of four and was out on a training mission in Nordland County” in northern Norway, according to a statement.
It was on its way north to Bodoe, where it was scheduled to land just before 6 p.m. Friday. The Osprey crashed in Graetaedalen in Beiarn, south of Bodoe. Police said a search and rescue mission was launched immediately. At 1:30 a.m. Saturday, the police arrived at the scene and confirmed that the crew of four had died.
