Watch: Dramatic footage shows moment US Osprey helicopter crashes into aircraft carrier

Dramatic footage has been released of a 2017 MV-22 Osprey helicopter crash into the side of a US warship, killing three Marines who were on board.

The clip shows the helicopter attempting to make a landing on board the USS Green Bay during a training exercise in Queensland, Australia.

The Osprey, which is designed to be able to fly like a plane and hover like a helicopter, pitches violently to the left just as it comes in to land, causing the left engine compartment to strike to deck of the ship.

At the time of the crash, the aircraft was carrying 26 members of Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 265. Following the impact, the chopper falls from the deck of aircraft carrier and plunges 30 feet into the Pacific Ocean.

Three marines who were on board the chopper died in the incident, with the remaining 23 rescued by colleagues.

Those killed were 1st Lt. Benjamin Cross, 26, of Oxford, Maine, Cpl. Nathaniel Ordway, 21, of Sedgwick, Kansas and Pfc. Ruben Velasco, 19, of Los Angeles.

Lt Cross was co-piloting the aircraft at the time of the crash.

The footage that has emerged does not show the moment the helicopter sinks, with the sailor filming the incident running for cover.

The crash resulted in a hole in the cockpit, which in turn led to the helicopter flooding as it sank. Those who died were unable to escape from the cockpit.

The Osprey has a patchy safety record since it was first introduced into the field, with 51 individuals dying in crashes involving the helicopter since its maiden voyage in 1989.

The MV-22 Osprey involved in the mishap had launched from the USS Bonhomme Richard and was conducting regularly scheduled operations when it crashed into the water.

The aircraft was in Australia for a joint military training exercise held by the US and Australia last month in Shoalwater Bay. The Talisman Sabre exercise, a biennial event between the two nations, involved more than 30,000 troops and 200 aircraft that year.

A Pentagon investigation later concluded that the Osprey had crashed because it faced too much 'downwash' - air deflected around its rotors.