<div style="text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size: 1rem;">A United States military aircraft crashed during drills in Australia's Northern Territory on Sunday with around 20 people on board, according to local media.</span><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Australia's Defence Department confirmed the Osprey vertical takeoff aircraft had been carrying US "defence personnel", and said that it appeared no Australian soldiers were involved.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"At this critical early stage, our focus is on the incident response and ensuring the safety of those involved," the department said in a statement.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The aircraft was involved in drills near the Tiwi Islands north of Darwin, and several people have reportedly been rescued, according to Australian public broadcaster ABC.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">An emergency services incident map for the Northern Territory said there had been an "aircraft crash" on Melville Island, some 60 kilometres (37 miles) north of the Australian mainland on Sunday morning.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Osprey was taking part in the Predators Run exercises, a joint series of warfighting drills held between the US and Australian militaries.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Ospreys are tilt-rotor aircraft that combine the vertical takeoff ability of a helicopter with the speed of a turboprop plane, according to the US Air Force. AFP</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>