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Black Hawk downed in Iraq
By Alexis Dyer
National/World News Co-Editor
AP PHOTO
A "lucky shot" downed a US Army Wednesday night.
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A U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter was shot down Wednesday night by small-arms fire that military officials are calling a “lucky shot.”
The UH-60 Black Hawk is protected by armor that is supposed to withstand ground fire, but officials speculated that a bullet may have hit a hydraulic line or a rear rotor.
At the time of the incident the helicopter was away from the battlefield providing command and control support and relying information about the position of the remnants of the Iraqi Republican Guard’s Medina Division, according to MSNBC news services.
The helicopter, carrying 11 soldiers, crashed near the Iraqi city of Karbala. The craft went down at about 7:30 pm local time. News of the incident was withheld during the rescue operation that was described by A military official at Central Command in Doha called “fairly hairy,” according to MSNBC news services.
Central Command’s head- quarters in Tampa, Florida originally issued a statement that there were only six soldiers onboard. However, the Pentagon later reported that there were at least 7 casualties and 4 four men injured. It was also reported that the casualties occurred when the helicopter crashed, not when it was first hit.
The Black Hawk was the second U.S. helicopter to go down in combat. An Army Apache helicopter went down March 24 during an assault on Republican Guard forces near Karbala, and its two pilots were captured by Iraqi soldiers.
A Navy F/A-18C Hornet fighter jet was also shot down on Wednesday in the same general area, only hours after the Black Hawk. Pentagon officials have reported that the pilot had not yet been found, and it is unclear whether he is alive or dead.
The Pentagon also requested that news of the fighter jet crash be withheld until the rescue operation was concluded. Officials were concerned that reporting the incident could alert Iraqi forces to the opportunity to capture the pilot.
At least two U.S. news organizations initially reported the incident, but pulled their reports at the request of the Pentagon.
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