Video of US Osprey V22 chopper crash in Australia released

Newly-unearthed footage shows the moment a MV-22 Osprey helicopter crashed over the side of a US warship in 2017, killing three Marines who were on board.

The clip, first posted online Saturday, shows the sophisticated helicopter - which can fly like a plane and hover like a chopper - trying to land on the deck of the US Green Bay of the coast of Queensland, Australia, on August 5, 2017.

But the chopper - which has been plagued by fatal accidents that have killed 51 service personnel since its first flight in 1989 - suddenly drops unexpectedly.

It strikes its left engine compartment off the deck while pitching dramatically, with the sailor who was filming running to safety just as the chopper begins to disappear from view.

Moments later, the Bell-Boeing chopper, - which was carrying 26 members of Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 265 - plunged 30 feet and slammed into the Pacific Ocean.

A hole in the cockpit of the damaged aircraft quickly saw it flood with water, causing it to sink.

All but three of those service personnel were rescued, with the bodies of three others recovered following a 12 hour search.

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