Sparrowhawk
01-08-04, 12:26 PM
Shhhit, why weren't these two choppers excorted by gunships?
<hr>
Nine U.S. soldiers killed
in Iraqi helicopter crash
Witness says aircraft hit by rocket
FREE VIDEO
Jan. 8: It was not known why the helicopter was making an “emergency landing.” NBC’s Richard Engel reports.
MSNBC
FALLUJAH, Iraq - A U.S. Black Hawk medical helicopter crashed Thursday near this stronghold of the anti-U.S. insurgency, killing all nine soldiers aboard, the U.S. military said. A witness said the helicopter was hit in the tail by a rocket.
Also Thursday, a U.S. C-5 military cargo plane with 63 passengers and crew aboard returned to Baghdad International Airport shortly after takeoff, a military spokeswoman told NBC News. A U.S. military source said it appeared that the aircraft was hit by a surface-to-air missile. There were no injuries.
There were no survivors on the Black Hawk, which crashed while making what Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt called an “emergency landing.”
The cause of the crash was unknown, he said. But Mohammed Ahmed al-Jamali, a farmer who lives close to the crash site, said he heard the whoosh of a rocket, saw it hit the helicopter in the tail and watched the chopper crash in flames.
Al-Jamali said he rushed to the scene but found all aboard dead.
He said that there were two helicopters in the air, both with the distinctive red crosses of medical evacuation craft, and that the second one was hit.
It was unclear whether the helicopter was carrying patients, a military official said on condition of anonymity.
Waleed Kurdi, a student, said he heard “a loud explosion and I saw the fire in the air.” He said the aircraft exploded in two before it hit the ground.
A U.S. helicopter was shot down Jan. 2 in the same area, killing one soldier, and military officials said the Black Hawk almost certainly was shot down by rebels.
In the deadliest single attack on U.S. forces since the Iraq invasion began in March, 17 soldiers were killed Nov. 15 when two Black Hawks collided above Mosul in what the military called a likely grenade attack.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
<hr>
Nine U.S. soldiers killed
in Iraqi helicopter crash
Witness says aircraft hit by rocket
FREE VIDEO
Jan. 8: It was not known why the helicopter was making an “emergency landing.” NBC’s Richard Engel reports.
MSNBC
FALLUJAH, Iraq - A U.S. Black Hawk medical helicopter crashed Thursday near this stronghold of the anti-U.S. insurgency, killing all nine soldiers aboard, the U.S. military said. A witness said the helicopter was hit in the tail by a rocket.
Also Thursday, a U.S. C-5 military cargo plane with 63 passengers and crew aboard returned to Baghdad International Airport shortly after takeoff, a military spokeswoman told NBC News. A U.S. military source said it appeared that the aircraft was hit by a surface-to-air missile. There were no injuries.
There were no survivors on the Black Hawk, which crashed while making what Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt called an “emergency landing.”
The cause of the crash was unknown, he said. But Mohammed Ahmed al-Jamali, a farmer who lives close to the crash site, said he heard the whoosh of a rocket, saw it hit the helicopter in the tail and watched the chopper crash in flames.
Al-Jamali said he rushed to the scene but found all aboard dead.
He said that there were two helicopters in the air, both with the distinctive red crosses of medical evacuation craft, and that the second one was hit.
It was unclear whether the helicopter was carrying patients, a military official said on condition of anonymity.
Waleed Kurdi, a student, said he heard “a loud explosion and I saw the fire in the air.” He said the aircraft exploded in two before it hit the ground.
A U.S. helicopter was shot down Jan. 2 in the same area, killing one soldier, and military officials said the Black Hawk almost certainly was shot down by rebels.
In the deadliest single attack on U.S. forces since the Iraq invasion began in March, 17 soldiers were killed Nov. 15 when two Black Hawks collided above Mosul in what the military called a likely grenade attack.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.