Military Helicopters

A U.S. helicopter crashed in the Tigris River in the northern city of Mosul while searching for a soldier Sunday, and the aircraft's two crew members were missing, the military said. It did not say what caused the crash of the OH-58 Kiowa Warrior helicopter attached to the Army's 101st Airborne Division. The helicopter was searching for a soldier missing when his patrol boat capsized.

The helicopter crews of Iraq will tell you that their main concern is not so much the regular volleys of small-arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades hurled their way -- all potentially lethal should a shot find its mark. It's the heat-seeking surface-to-air missiles.

Three Marines were killed and one severely injured when their helicopter crashed Thursday night in a remote part of this sprawling base, a Marine Corps spokesman said. The three were aboard a UH-1 when it crashed in the rugged Talega Canyon area. The UH-1, called the Huey, generally carries a crew of four Marines. "Our hearts go out to the families," said Maj. T.V. Johnson, a Marine Corps spokesman. "Our priority is providing support for them."

Sgt. Christopher Nelson said he felt a little edgy as the Chinook lifted off toward the Baghdad airport and home leave. Then he heard "a loud boom." He closed his eyes and prayed. The next thing he knew, Nelson, 27, of Orange, Texas, was lying on the ground, surrounded by pieces of the helicopter. "I saw medics running around trying to get people out," Nelson said. "I smelled fuel but couldn't see flames." The helicopter had been shot down near Fallouja.

Military investigators worked on Monday to determine whether the downing of a CH-47 Chinook helicopter in Iraq will prove to be a fluke or a new phase in the deadly insurgency. Analysts differed over the significance of the missile attack. Some said such a disaster was inevitable if the Iraqis kept trying, while others said it marked a new level of sophistication in an accelerating guerrilla campaign whose bombings are resulting in ever-higher body counts.

Boeing Co. lost a U.S. Supreme Court bid to avoid paying $19 million over the 1991 crash of an Army Chinook helicopter in Saudi Arabia. The court refused to hear Boeing's argument that a contract clause shielded it from having to pay damages for product defects. The government blamed a defective gear for the crash. Boeing earlier paid $41 million to resolve other claims. The government sued under the False Claims Act.

Five Marines from Camp Pendleton died in a helicopter crash in Iraq, the U.S. Marine Corps announced Tuesday. Four of the Marines were aboard a CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter that crashed Monday into a canal near Karbala, about 50 miles southwest of Baghdad, shortly after takeoff. The fifth drowned while attempting to rescue the crew members. All were part of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force. The helicopter was on a routine resupply mission when the crash occurred.

A Marine Corps Air Station Miramar helicopter made a safe emergency landing on a public golf course Tuesday after developing a mechanical problem during a training exercise. None of the 19 people aboard the CH-53E Super Stallion was injured, said Staff Sgt. April Tuggle. The helicopter landed on the second hole of the Encinitas Ranch Golf Course, about 25 miles north of San Diego, around 10:30 a.m.

Soldiers lowered the flag for 11 fallen comrades as investigators Wednesday tried to determine what caused the crash of a Black Hawk helicopter during a training exercise. The UH-60 went down Tuesday afternoon in a remote part of the rugged, 167-square-mile post in northern New York. Investigators from the Army Safety Center at Ft. Rucker, Ala., were on the scene Wednesday, joined by personnel from Ft. Drum's Criminal Investigation Command, which reviews all accidents on the base.