Related story: 9 killed in Australian chopper crash in Indonesia

    CANBERRA, April 3 (Xinhuanet) -- Australian investigators set off for Indonesia Sunday as Australian officers in Indonesia are inspecting the wreckage of an Australian helicopter which crashed in Indonesia while helping with the relief effort after a deadly earthquake last week.

    Nine people, including seven men and two women, died when their navy Sea King helicopter, attached to HMAS Kanimbla, crashed on Indonesia's island of Nias, on the south-west coast of Sumatra, Saturday.

    HMAS Kanimbla, the Australian navy ship which had only just completed its mission to tsunami-hit Aceh of Indonesia and is equipped with a mobile hospital and medical personnel, arrived offthe earthquake-devastated Nias on Saturday to help deliver aid and medical care to survivors of a massive earthquake.

    The helicopter had been flying a medical relief team from the Kanimbla to a village at the time of the accident.

    A group of Australian officers from HMAS Kanimbla have arrived at the crash site and are inspecting the wreckage, Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) radio reported.

    Australian Prime Minister John Howard said earlier in the day aformal military investigation was needed to determine the cause of the crash, adding the bodies are expected home early this week.

    It was Australia's worst post-Vietnam War operational loss of military personnel.

    Witnesses have told ABC that the helicopter circled twice before attempting a landing on a football field.

    Around 30 meters short of the field, the engine stopped and thehelicopter slammed into the ground nose first, according to witnesses. Enditem