Four U.S. Marines killed in plane crash during NATO exercise in Norway

HELSINKI, Finland â€”  Four U.S. Marines were killed when their Osprey aircraft crashed in a Norwegian town in the Arctic Circle during a NATO exercise unrelated to the Ukraine war, authorities said Saturday.

Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere tweeted that they died in the crash on Friday night. The cause was under investigation, but Norwegian police reported bad weather in the area.

The Marines were assigned to the North Carolina-based 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, II Marine Expeditionary Force.

The U.S. says the identities of the Marines wouldn’t be immediately provided in keeping with U.S. Defense Department policy of notifying relatives.

The aircraft was an MV-22B Osprey. It “had a crew of four and was out on a training mission in Nordland County� in northern Norway, the country’s armed forces said in 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 started immediately. At 1:30 a.m. Saturday, police arrived at the scene and confirmed that the crew of four had died.

The annual North Atlantic Treaty Organization drills in Norway are unrelated to the war in Ukraine. This year they include about 30,000 troops, 220 aircraft and 50 vessels from 27 countries. Non-NATO members Finland and Sweden are also participating.

The exercises began March 14 and end April 1.

No cause was given for the crash.

The Norwegian military said the exercise would “carry on as planned, with the measures we have to take due to the weather.�

A Norwegian rescue helicopter spotted the crash site late Friday and Red Cross crews were assigned to assist police on the ground, Norwegian media said.

Norwegian newspaper VG said Red Cross members drove close to the crash site with scooters and marked the trail with GPS for police in what they described as extremely difficult weather conditions early Saturday.

“It was a special night; it was a real storm. There were five of us driving toward the scene of the accident. There was one meter of visibility, snow and storm in the mountains, � Red Cross team leader Oerjan Kristensen told VG. “I guess it was a wind gust of 30-40 meters per second. When it blows like that, it is difficult to stand upright.�

Kristensen added that the rescue operation was being hampered by the risk of landslides and the remoteness of the crash site.

Police began an investigation into the crash, and accident commission members and police representatives were scheduled to arrive at the site Saturday.

“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,� operations manager Ivar Bo Nilsson from the Norland Police District told reporters.

Lt. Gen. Yngve Odlo, head of the Norwegian Armed Forces’ operational headquarters, said the NATO exercise would continue.

“Right now there is full focus on ending the rescue operation, taking care of the people and then there will be a normal procedure with causation,� Odlo was quoted as saying by Norwegian public broadcaster NRK.

The first such NATO exercise in Norway was held in 2006, and the drills have been conducted a total of eight times over the years. They take place in southeastern, central and northern Norway.