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US helicopter crashes in Afghanistan
A US Marine helicopter burst into flames after it crashed near a US-held airstrip in southern Afghanistan, slightly wounding one marine on board and one on the ground, officers said.
A US Marine helicopter burst into flames after it crashed near a US-held airstrip in southern Afghanistan, slightly wounding one marine on board and one on the ground, officers said.
Investigators launched a probe into the cause of the crash of the UH-1N Huey helicopter at the camp rhino base late on Thursday but they believed it was not related to apparent probing of US lines by enemy forces, Marine Captain Stewart Upton said.
In the hour or so before the crash, US marines had fired dozens of flares and high-explosive rounds from mortars into the surrounding desert in response to what was almost certainly probing by enemy forces.
“All four crewman aboard the Huey survived the crash, although one was slightly wounded, along with a serviceman on the ground,” said Upton, a marine spokesman. He did not give details of their injuries.
A thick, black plume of smoke billowed over the airfield and flames could be seen from the marine compound where journalists had been ordered to stay put amid the alert. The journalists heard what sounded like small-arms fire around the time of the crash, but Upton said he had heard no gunfire and that ordnance on the helicopter may have been set off by the impact and fire.
Bureau Report
In the hour or so before the crash, US marines had fired dozens of flares and high-explosive rounds from mortars into the surrounding desert in response to what was almost certainly probing by enemy forces.
“All four crewman aboard the Huey survived the crash, although one was slightly wounded, along with a serviceman on the ground,” said Upton, a marine spokesman. He did not give details of their injuries.
A thick, black plume of smoke billowed over the airfield and flames could be seen from the marine compound where journalists had been ordered to stay put amid the alert. The journalists heard what sounded like small-arms fire around the time of the crash, but Upton said he had heard no gunfire and that ordnance on the helicopter may have been set off by the impact and fire.
Bureau Report