A probe launched by the United States military found one Marine thought to have died in a tragic aerial crash actually escaped — then perished heading back into the flames to try to save trapped pilots.
Cpl. Spencer Collart, 21, was on board an MV-22B Osprey that went down in Australia during a military exercise in August 2023.
An official Marine Corps investigation has found that Collart did not die from the initial crash, but instead perished when he “heroically reentered the burning cockpit of the aircraft in an attempt to rescue the trapped pilots.”
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Photographs of Marine Cpl. Spencer R. Collart and his fellow Marines, Marine Corps Capt. Eleanor V. LeBeau, bottom left, and Marine Corps Maj. Tobin J. Lewis, bottom right, are seen at the home of his parents in Arlington, Virginia. Collart, 21, was killed along with the two Marines when the MV-22B Osprey aircraft they were on crashed during drills on a north Australian island on Aug. 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
A total of 23 service members were on board the Osprey when the aircraft went down.
The majority managed to escape out the back of the plane, but Capt. Eleanor LeBeau, aircraft commander Maj. Tobin Lewis and Collart were killed in the tragic air disaster.
Understanding the nature of Collart’s death became difficult after one commander who survived the crash described seeing him escape the wreckage through a side door.
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MV-22B Osprey landing on the flight deck of the Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7). (Dominick A Cremeans/USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7)/Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)
On-site teams later recovered the young Marine’s in-flight tether at the site of the disaster largely undamaged.
Military investigators believe Collart escaped the wreckage but then ran back towards the flames to try rescuing Lewis from the cockpit — he died with the two pilots after succumbing to the heat and smoke.
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Family members of Marine Cpl. Spencer R. Collart, from left, father Bart Collart, sister Gwyneth Collart and mother Alexia Collart, hold his portrait as they pose for a photo at their home in Arlington, Virginia. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
Collart is being honored posthumously with the Navy and Marine Corps Medal, the Navy’s highest noncombat decoration.
