MSNBC Breaking: U.S. helicopter crashes southwest of Baghdad

[Cooley Hurd]

U.S. helicopter crashes southwest of Baghdad

Fate of crew unknown after military aircraft goes down in Iraq

AP Updated: 12:11 p.m. ET April 1, 2006

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A U.S. helicopter crashed southwest of Baghdad on Saturday, but the status of the crew was unknown, the U.S. military said.

A U.S. statement said the helicopter had been conducting a “combat air patrol” but did not give the type of aircraft, the number of crew members or the precise area where it went down.
</snip>

UPDATE from MSNBC article:

In an Internet posting, a group calling itself the Rashedeen Army said it had shot down a U.S. helicopter near the town of Yusufiya, an area that sees considerable Sunni insurgent activity just southwest of the capital.
</snip>

Breaking News banner on http://cnn.com/
A U.S. helicopter crashes southwest of Baghdad, the military says. The status of the crew is unknown.

[leftchick]

1. "crashes"

sure thing.

[saltpoint]

2. Among the thousands of things I fiercely dislike about this

administration is that regarding incidents like this helicopter crash, I am caught between feeling incredible empathy for the friends and families of the soldiers and other personnel who may have been hurt or killed and at the same time believing that my government, or rather this specific administration, sent them there for no good reason and may be lying about the cause of the crash.

The Bush administration makes citizenship difficult and unpleasant, and under a President Gore or a President Kerry, I don't believe I would feel nearly as caught.

[wtmusic]

3. There's no chance that they were landing on the roof of a house

and killing men, women, and children inside in an act of retribution, is there?

[saltpoint]

4. I hear you loud and clear. That's why I am so harsh in my response to

Bush, Rumsfeld, Condi, etc. -- the architects of this filthy war.

What is reported by the Pentagon frankly is not always accurate. Troop casualties in Vietnam were manipulated. CBS News reported the manipulation and provided evidence. They were sued. CBS won.

I haven't trusted the U.S. military spokespersons on war events since then. And I definitely don't trust Donald Rumsfeld for anything.

[MADem]

5. They were flying CAP, fachrissake

They either had a major malfunction or took a surface to air. The way the report reads, it doesn't sound like they auto-rotated down to a rough thump, but bought the farm.

Some families will be looking out the window and see a couple of uniformed guys coming up the walk with grim faces.

Sucks.

[Harper_is_Bush]

6. Probably an AH-64 if it was on a "combat air partrol", no?

[WhiteTara]

7. RIP soldiers. Sorry your lives were

wasted and that you were sent to kill and die so far from home.

[rodeodance]

8. nothing reported yet that i know of.

[WhiteTara]

14. Nope, just my intuition

sorry, musing while typing.

[bigdarryl]

9. Chopper crash

The military and the media well probably say this was a mechanical failure and was not shot down. i will bet my pay check on it.

[rodeodance]

10. AP Status of U.S. Copter Crew in Iraq Unknown (pending notification) cnn

just said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/iraq;_ylt=AiGpa1FKFp_UO.xgH.v3c3Ks0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA2Z2szazkxBHNlYwN0bQ--

Status of U.S. Copter Crew in Iraq Unknown

By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA, Associated Press Writer 2 minutes ago

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A U.S. military helicopter crashed Saturday during a "combat air patrol" southwest of Baghdad, but the status of the crew was unknown, according to the American command.
......

A U.S. statement said the helicopter went down about 5:30 p.m. during a combat patrol southwest of the capital but gave no further details, except to say that the fate of the crew was unknown. The statement did not identify the type of helicopter.

It was the first loss of a U.S. helicopter since three of them crashed in a 10-day period in January, killing a total of 18 American military personnel. At least two of the helicopters were shot down.

The U.S. command also said a Marine was killed Friday during combat operations in Anbar province west of the capital. The Marine's death brought to at least 2,328 the number of members of the U.S. military who have died since the...

[rodeodance]

11. "Marine was killed Friday" was embedded in this article.

[rodeodance]

12. nominated for the troops

[rodeodance]

13. lots of other news (not good) is included

On Saturday, gunmen killed three ice cream vendors in Baghdad's southern neighborhood of Dora, while a butcher and his son were killed and another son was wounded in east Baghdad, police said.

The owner of an air conditioner repair shop was shot to death on his way to work in western Baghdad.

Police also found nine bodies, mostly young men who were shot in the head or strangled in Baghdad. Witnesses also told police they saw three gunmen in a BMW pull a handcuffed man out of the car and shoot him near a highway in west Baghdad.

In Basra, a Sunni sheik was killed by gunmen in a speeding car when he left his home in the southern city. Two policemen also were killed in a bombing south of Basra, police said.

West of Baghdad, U.S. and Iraqi troops killed three suspected insurgents, including a woman, and captured three others Saturday in an operation in Amiriyah in Anbar province, the U.S. military said.

[TexasLawyer]

15. This madness must end NOW.

We'll just keep seeing more of the same until we're out of that hell hole Iraq.

[classysassy]

16. A hell hole

created by Bushco.

[yy4me]

17. 2300 soldiers die, hardly makes the news, one copter down,

headlines. I feel terrible for these men but the headlines need to read a little differently. I would bet as many men died on the ground today as died in this crash. We need headlines the same size for them.
Does the media think we are more sympathetic to the war because the death of these men was from the air and not the ground?

[HemiCuda]

18. Here is my view.

First of all "Bush, Rumsfeld, Condi, etc. -- the architects of this filthy war." So true,
BUT since our soldiers ARE there, we must give them the support they need,UNTIL our U.S.government says they come home. ( So we need a new leadership in Congress, get it?)

So, what bothers me about this is, when the chopper goes down, are three more choppers 'on call' to help. Is there 'back-up' or a plan to secure the area?
If not, ( and it sure looks this way) then I fully blame our military leadership for not having a plan. The global positioning sensor(s) should have said where they are, then swoop in and secure it.

If we can't do that, then the military palnners are failures.

Sorry to be long-winded.

[Cooley Hurd]

21. Welcome, to DU, HemiCuda!

:hi:

The "new" US military is quickly becoming nothing more than a privatized force (thanks to nimrods like Rumsfeld). This is what happens when you try to operate a military on the cheap.

Always to have converts here - a hearty welcome!:hi:

[Carla in Ca]

29. Good point, HemiCuda

And
to DU! Glad to have you here.
I love you name. Do you have one?

[spinbaby]

19. Has there been any more news on this?

It's amazing--a helicoptor goes down and it hardly gets mention.

[SlavesandBulldozers]

20. What about all the helicopters that haven't crashed?

Jesus Christ when is the liberal media going to start reporting on all the perfectly flying, not crashed-and-exploded, aircraft.
:eyes:

[w8liftinglady]

22. pause for our fallen soldiers,marines,airmen,and sailors

there is still no word about the status of these soldiers.



http://icasualties.org/oif/BY_DOD.aspx

[rocktivity]

23. GOOD NEWS!

The helicopter did NOT crash IN Baghdad where it most likely would have done a LOT more damage!

:party: (This post is part of the George Bush GULF WAR GOOD NEWS initiative.)
rocknation

[IndianaGreen]

24. Was the crew captured, are they dead, are they evading the insurgents?

It has been many hours since this news broke and yet there has been no new information since then. What is going on?

[Cooley Hurd]

25. If they escaped, you'd hear it on Faux...

I assume they didn't make it (hence the blackout)...:(

[IndianaGreen]

26. A blackout makes sense if the crew is missing

not if they are dead. They could just easily say that the crew was dead but that the names won't be released pending notification of next of kin, as an earlier CNN report had suggested:

"The status of the crew is unknown," the brief statement said.

Officials said the helicopter was on a "combat air patrol" and came down at about 5:30 p.m. (9:30 a.m. ET).

The statement added: "All additional information is being withheld pending investigation and notification of next of kin," the statement said.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/04/01/iraq.main/index.html

[IndianaGreen]

27. Update: "Fate of U.S. Copter Crew in Iraq Unknown" (AP)

It has been hours since the crash was reported and there has been a total news blackout since then! Are they POW/MIAs? Are they evading capture? Are some dead and some missing? All the MSM news networks have been silent since the first reports came out as to the status of the crew. What is going on???

Here is what AP is saying (nothing new other that they are using words such as "fate" and "unknown" in the same sentence:

Fate of U.S. Copter Crew in Iraq Unknown

By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA
Associated Press Writer

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- A U.S. military helicopter crashed Saturday during a "combat air patrol" southwest of Baghdad, but the status of the crew was unknown, according to the American command.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/IRAQ?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=HOME

and that is all about the crew on the AP news report from Iraq.

Reuters
Saturday, April 1, 2006; 1:03 PM

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A U.S. military helicopter went down southwest of Baghdad on Saturday and it was unclear if there were casualties, the military said.

<snip>

Some U.S. military helicopters have been brought down by rocket propelled grenades and small arms fire and the military is also aware of the threat of surface-to-air missiles.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/01/AR2006040100624.html

[goclark]

28. Kick please