Fri, Jan 31, 2003
Updated: A US Army UH-60 Black
Hawk helicopter crashed in Afghanistan Thursday. A Defense
Department spokesman in the Pentagon said at about 10:45 a.m.
(Thursday) that the crash occurred "within the hour." He confirmed
that there were casualties, but he had no details whether they were
deaths or injuries, at the time. Officials said the helicopter was
on a routine training mission 10 to 20 kilometers east of Bagram.
"Hostile action is not believed to be the cause," the spokesman
said.
Since the original announcement, ANN has confirmed that four
soldiers lost their lives in the crash near the Bagram air base,
the nexus of US military operations in Afghanistan. The last
American killed in Afghanistan was Sgt. Steven Checo, 22, of the
82nd Airborne. Checo lost his life Dec. 21, 2002, during a
nighttime op in the eastern province of Paktika, near the Pakistani
border.
Since the initiation of US involvement in the region in the fall
of 2001, five US helos have been involved in accidents that have
collectively killed two Army Rangers, and two Marines, with
another 11 troops injured.
The Black Hawk is the Army's primary helicopter
for air assault, general support, and aeromedical evacuation units.
It has enhanced the Army's mobility with improvements in troop
capacity and cargo lift capability. The UH-60 is flown by a crew of
(at least) three, the pilot and the copilot at the flight deck and
one crew member in the cabin. The UH-60 Black Hawk has been
operational with the US Army since 1978 and variants of the Black
Hawk are operational or have been ordered by 22 international
customers. More than 2,000 H-60 variants are in service with the US
Military and Sikorsky has delivered more than 2,500 helicopters of
the Hawk family.
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