Three Royal Navy crew die in Merlin helicopter crash in Devon
Floral tributes appeared near Sourton Down after a Royal Navy Merlin Mk4 crashed during training, killing three crew in Devon.
Three Royal Navy crew members died when a Merlin Mk4 helicopter came down in a field near Sourton Down, close to Okehampton in Devon, during a training exercise. Floral tributes were placed at the scene as officers and emergency services worked around the crash site and the military training area near Okehampton Battle Camp.
Devon & Cornwall Police said emergency services were notified at about 3.45am on Wednesday 3 June 2026, after reports of a Royal Navy helicopter crash in the area. The aircraft went down just before 4am, in the early hours of a morning that quickly shifted from routine exercise to a fatal incident involving one of the Navy’s frontline helicopters.
The Royal Navy said the families of the dead service personnel had been informed and had asked for a period of grace before further details were released. General Sir Gwyn Jenkins, the head of the Navy, said he was deeply saddened and confirmed that an investigation was under way. The Ministry of Defence also became part of the response as attention turned to how a training flight ended in loss of life.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the deaths utterly tragic and thanked emergency services for their response. His remarks underlined the wider shock around the crash, which took place not in combat but during training, when crews are still exposed to the dangers of military aviation and the pressure of operating complex aircraft in difficult conditions.
Road closures were put in place around the A386 and the A30 Sourton Cross slip road while officers managed the scene near Okehampton. For military families and communities that live with the risks of service, the crash added another painful reminder that repeated losses are often absorbed long before answers arrive. The investigation now underway will seek to explain why a helicopter on exercise became the focus of a major emergency response on open ground in Devon.
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