A Royal Navy Merlin HC4 helicopter crashed into a field in southwest England on the morning of 3 June 2026.

A statement from the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) read, “An incident occurred involving a Royal Navy helicopter just before 0400 on Wednesday, 3 June, near Sourton, Devon. An investigation is underway and it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time.”

As of 1300 that day, no news of casualties had been released, but a photograph of the scene that appeared in The Times showed that the helicopter, clearly a Merlin, had been completely destroyed. Witnesses quoted by The Times recalled hearing the Merlin sounding like it was suffering from a mechanical issue. The cause of the crash is being investigated.

The UK MoD subsequently issued a statement confirming that three crewmembers had died in the crash during a training exercise, while the type involved was identified as a Merlin HC4.

According to the UK MoD’s published equipment holdings for 2025, the Royal Navy had at that time 21 Merlin HC4/4a Commando Helicopter Force aircraft operational (this was from an original fleet of 25 aircraft), along with 23 Merlin HM2 anti-submarine warfare variants operational out of a total fleet of 30 aircraft.

The Merlin generally has a good safety record, although an HC4 variant was lost on 4 September 2024 when it ditched into the English Channel off the coast of Dorset during a routine night-time training exercise. In that incident the pilot was lost, while the two crew members were rescued.