US Military Crashes and Accidents

[ejaz007]

5 U.S. Troops Die in Black Hawk Crash in Afghanistan


KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Five U.S. troops fighting Islamist insurgents in southern Afghanistan were killed in a helicopter crash in bad weather, the coalition and provincial authorities said Tuesday.

Police in the province of Kandahar said the Black Hawk helicopter came down late Monday evening during a heavy rainstorm in Daman district. The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) does not release the nationality of casualties, but a Western military official who declined to be named confirmed that the victims were all U.S. forces personnel.

“The cause of the crash is under investigation. However, initial reporting indicates there was no enemy activity in the area at the time,” ISAF said in a statement.

A spokesman said that all on board the helicopter died in the crash.

A Taliban representative in Kandahar said the militants had brought down the aircraft, although the group often makes false claims of responsibility for incidents in which NATO troops die. Helicopter crashes are fairly frequent in Afghanistan, where the100,000-strong international mission relies heavily on air transport as it battles against the insurgency across the south of the country.

“There was bad weather in the area, and the helicopter crashed at about 10:00 p.m.,” Kandahar provincial police chief General Abdul Razeq told AFP. “No insurgents were there at the time.”

Daman district is one of most stable areas of Kandahar, a province at the heart of the unrest, and local officials said the crash site was not far from Kandahar city.

Last August, seven American soldiers and four Afghans died when another Black Hawk helicopter crashed in Kandahar. Monday’s crash came on the same day that two U.S. soldiers were killed and 10 wounded in a suspected insider attack in the eastern province of Wardak by a man in an Afghan army uniform who also killed several Afghan soldiers.

In August 2011, an American Chinook was shot down by the Taliban near Kabul, killing eight Afghans and 30 Americans, including 22 Navy SEALs from the unit that killed Osama bin Laden in neighboring Pakistan earlier that year.


5 U.S. Troops Die in Black Hawk Crash in Afghanistan | Defense News | defensenews.com

 

[Mike_Brando]

R.I.P. to them.

 

[Ayush]

rip to the soldiers.

 

[ejaz007]

U.S. Military Helicopter Crashes Near N. Korea Border
Apr. 16, 2013 - 10:07 AM


SEOUL — A U.S. military helicopter taking part in a joint South Korea-U.S. drill crashed Tuesday near the North Korean border with 21 personnel on board. There were no fatalities.

A statement put out by U.S. Forces in Korea said the CH-53 Super Stallion helicopter had “executed a hard landing” while on a routine flight operation in Cheolwon county, which touches on the border with North Korea.

The precise cause of the accident was not immediately known, the statement said, adding that a “comprehensive investigation” had been ordered.

All five crew members and 16 other service personnel were taken to a U.S. military hospital in Seoul. Fifteen were subsequently released while six remained hospitalized “in stable condition,” the statement said.

Pictures from the site taken by the Yonhap news agency showed firefighters using foam to douse the burned out wreck of the helicopter, which had clearly burst into flames after crash landing.

The helicopter was taking part in an annual South Korea-U.S. joint military exercise called “Foal Eagle.”

The accident occurred at a time of heightened military tensions on the Korean peninsula, partly due to North Korea’s anger over “Foal Eagle”, which it sees as an invasion rehearsal.

There are 28,500 U.S. military personnel permanently stationed in South Korea. The crew of the crashed helicopter belonged to the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit stationed in Okinawa, Japan.

U.S. Military Helicopter Crashes Near N. Korea Border | Defense News | defensenews.com