Military Helicopters

A retired Army colonel and two other men face charges of trying to sell U.S. military helicopters adapted for spraying chemicals to Iraq. U.S. Customs Service agents posing as prospective buyers of the 34 Bell OH-58As helicopters negotiated a purchase with retired Col. Robert Fairchild, 53, of Little Rock, Ark., and Donald Proven, 56, a former Marine from Chicago, the agency said. The agents believe they were bidding against another buyer, who intended to ship the helicopters to Iraq.

CAIRO - Egyptians wept and hugged as fireworks exploded in Tahrir Square and their world suddenly changed. Tears in their eyes, men, in some cases accompanied by their families, congratulated one another as throngs pushed in on roads and bridges leading from the Nile. In all, tens of thousands of Egyptians took to the square to celebrate the election of Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohamed Morsi as the nation's first Islamist president. Although many in the crowd were ecstatic, others acknowledged that they were bracing for the struggle to come as Morsi inherits a country with a battered economy and ruling military still very much in power after President Hosni Mubarak's overthrow 16 months ago. The square - the battered, graffiti-streaked epicenter of Egypt's popular revolt - is where Egyptians have flocked to pour out their joy over the election results and their grievances about the military.

Sikorsky Aircraft is studying the feasibility of building civilian helicopters capable of carrying up to 100 people on short- and medium-range flights, the company announced. The new helicopters would be introduced around the turn of the century and could help ease growing problems with urban transportation and airport congestion, officials said Saturday.

A study of helicopter noise in the city, prompted by residents' complaints that began in earnest when flights were stepped up during the Olympics, has concluded that the main source is the California National Guard, which operates a fleet of 100 helicopters out of the Los Alamitos Armed Forces Reserve Center. However, National Guard Col.

A U.S. Marine helicopter carrying 37 Marines on maneuvers crashed in an isolated mountain region on South Korea's southeast coast early today, and 22 were killed, U.S. authorities said. Fifteen Marines were injured, some critically, when the Sikorsky Sea Stallion crashed shortly before 7 a.m. south of the industrial port city of Pohang and 250 miles southeast of Seoul, a Marine Corps spokesman said.

Seven men were killed and 11 others injured in the crash of two military helicopters during separate training maneuvers, authorities said Saturday. An Army Blackhawk helicopter crashed Friday night during a training exercise in a densely wooded area of Ft. Chaffee, Ark., killing five of the 13 soldiers who were on board.

Iranian President Ali Khamenei said Tuesday that his forces will block all oil movement in the Persian Gulf if its tankers are stopped, the Iranian news agency IRNA reported. If Iran fails to export its oil, "there would be no way for any other country to do the same through the waterway," IRNA, monitored in Nicosia, quoted him as saying.

A Santa Ana man was among 15 Marines injured in the fatal crash of a military helicopter in South Korea, but his family said Tuesday that the serviceman is in good spirits and is expected to recover quickly from his injuries. The Marine Corps on Tuesday released the names of 34 servicemen killed or injured in the crash Monday of a military helicopter in South Korea, including eight from California.

The pilot of the Navy aircraft that plucked Marines from stormy seas minutes after their Tustin-based helicopter went down near Ventura County said Thursday they were lucky to have ditched so close to a search and rescue base. A ninth Marine remained missing and is presumed drowned. He was identified Thursday as Jeffrey B. Johns, 22, an avionics technician from Uniontown, Ohio. Lt. Robert Moore said in a telephone interview from Pt.