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Two Royal Navy helicopters collide over the Gulf
London, Mar 22: Two Royal Navy helicopters collided over international waters in the Gulf today and seven crew members were missing, officials said.
London, Mar 22: Two Royal Navy helicopters collided
over international waters in the Gulf today and seven crew
members were missing, officials said.
Group Capt. al Lockwood, a spokesman for British forces
in the Gulf, said the mid-air collision involved sea king
airborne early warning helicopters.
Speaking at U.K. central command in Qatar, Lockwood said a search and rescue operation was underway to find the missing crew members.
``We are doing everything we can to ascertain what caused the accident,'' he told.
A spokesman at U.K. central command in Qatar told Britain's press association news agency the crew members were feared dead.
``There are believed to be no survivors,'' he said, on condition of anonymity.
The accident happened at around 4:30 A.M. local time (0700 IST). Lockwood said the collision was not the result of enemy fire.
``The most important thing at this moment is with notifying next of kin of the casualties,'' he said. ``circumstances are still unclear. An investigation is under way and obviously it will take some time to ascertain what happened.''
The accident is the second involving coalition helicopters since the U.S.-led campaign began.
Eight British royal marines and four American marines died when a CH-46 sea knight helicopter crashed before dawn in Kuwait on yesterday.
Lt. Col. Ben Curry, a British royal marines spokesman, said that crash occurred as troops were being deployed to seize oil fields on the al Faw peninsula in southern Iraq. Bureau Report
Speaking at U.K. central command in Qatar, Lockwood said a search and rescue operation was underway to find the missing crew members.
``We are doing everything we can to ascertain what caused the accident,'' he told.
A spokesman at U.K. central command in Qatar told Britain's press association news agency the crew members were feared dead.
``There are believed to be no survivors,'' he said, on condition of anonymity.
The accident happened at around 4:30 A.M. local time (0700 IST). Lockwood said the collision was not the result of enemy fire.
``The most important thing at this moment is with notifying next of kin of the casualties,'' he said. ``circumstances are still unclear. An investigation is under way and obviously it will take some time to ascertain what happened.''
The accident is the second involving coalition helicopters since the U.S.-led campaign began.
Eight British royal marines and four American marines died when a CH-46 sea knight helicopter crashed before dawn in Kuwait on yesterday.
Lt. Col. Ben Curry, a British royal marines spokesman, said that crash occurred as troops were being deployed to seize oil fields on the al Faw peninsula in southern Iraq. Bureau Report