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.

FMI: www.army.mil