Searchers find black box of Australian army Taipan helicopter that crashed with the loss of 4 lives

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Divers have recovered the flight data recorder from an Australia army helicopter that crashed at sea during a military exercise with the United States last month. Four crewmembers died in the crash July 28 in the Whitsunday Islands off the northeast Australian coast. Recovering the black box was a priority to help determine the cause of the crash of the MRH-90 Taipan. The Defense Department said Tuesday that navy divers retrieved the device that contains the helicopter’s flight data and cockpit voice recordings Monday. There are doubts Australia’s fleet of more than 40 Taipans will fly again. The government says they will remain grounded until crash investigators have found a cause of the tragedy. It’s replacing them with 40 U.S. Black Hawk helicopters.