Said That He Contacted The Network A Decade Ago

The pilot of a helicopter in the Iraq War that was hit by a rocket propelled grenade and went down in 2003 said he told NBC News a decade ago that Brian Williams was not on the aircraft that was struck.

The pilot was Don Helus. He said he saw Williams' report about being on a helicopter that was struck by an RPG when he returned to Kuwait for repairs on his aircraft. He told CNN's Reliable Sources that he contacted MSNBC to tell them that the facts were incorrect and that Williams had not been on his flight, but had been aboard a different helicopter. He said he never heard back from MSNBC or NBC, according to a report in USA Today.

Last week, Williams recanted the story, and announced he would be taking a hiatus from the anchor desk at NBC News. "I said I was traveling in an aircraft that was hit by RPG fire. I was instead in a following aircraft," he said Wednesday. "We all landed after the ground fire incident and spent two harrowing nights in a sandstorm in the Iraq desert."

Another pilot appearing on CNN said that Williams had been a passenger on his aircraft that day, and his helo was not attacked.

The incident has called other reporting by Williams into question, including a 2006 account of a helicopter in which he was a passenger being fired on by Hezbollah fighters during Israel's war, and his stories from New Orleans after Katrina. Some have called for him to resign as the anchor, but he has been defended by others for having had a "distinguished career."

(Image from file)

FMI: www.nbc.com