US Marines pause flights for 24 hours after two deadly crashes

WASHINGTON - 12 August 2017: The US Marine Corps ordered its aircraft squadrons to suspend flight operations for 24 hours sometime during the next two weeks to review procedures after two of its planes crashed, killing dozens.

General Robert Neller, commandant of the US Marine Corps, urged aviation units to time the suspensions in a way that would not disrupt operational commitments, the Marine Corps was quoted by ِAlhurra news channel as saying.

Last weekend, a Marine MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft crashed off northeastern Australia, killing three Marines aged 19 to 26. Twenty-three others on the craft were rescued.

In July, a KC-130 Hercules transport plane crashed in Mississippi, killing 16 service members, including reservists from New York state and active-duty Marines based in North Carolina.