Posted on 02/07/2007 1:20:58 AM PST by HAL9000
Excerpt -
BAGHDAD, Feb 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. military said on Wednesday it was checking reports that a Chinook transport helicopter might have come down near Baghdad.Two witnesses in the area, just north of Baghdad, told Reuters they saw a Chinook helicopter come down amid gunfire from the ground. They said it was unclear if the helicopter had crashed or made an emergency landing.
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(Excerpt) Read more at research.tdameritrade.com ...
Not again....
And a chinook? Potential for a lot of people to be onboard....this could be bad.
Thanks for the updates.
Could be a set up to get some troopers there and then attack them.
Must be something about gravity there and not the Iranian supplied anti aircraft missles we are ignoring.
Not funny.
AP News AlertBAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- The U.S. military says a CH-46 helicopter has gone down northwest of Baghdad, but it declines to comment on casualties.
AP could be screwed up but the Chinook is a CH-47.
US military confirms transport chopper down in Iraq
BAGHDAD, Feb 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. military confirmed on Wednesday that a transport helicopter had come down near Baghdad but declined comment on any casualties.
"We have a CH-46 that is down," U.S. military spokesman Major-General William Caldwell told reporters, referring to the twin-rotor Sea Knight, the Marine version of the Chinook, which can carry up to 55 passengers and two crew.
U.S. military says copter down in Iraq
By KIM GAMEL, Associated Press Writer 4 minutes ago
BAGHDAD, Iraq - A Sea Knight helicopter went down northwest of Baghdad on Wednesday, the military said, the fifth helicopter lost in Iraq in just over two weeks.
The CH-46 helicopter went down about 20 miles northwest of the capital, U.S. military spokesman Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said, but he declined to comment on casualties.
"A quick reaction force is on site and the investigation is going on as we speak," he said. "It would probably be inappropriate for me to talk about whether or not there are or are not casualties."
Witnesses said the helicopter had been shot down in a field in the Sheik Amir area northwest of Baghdad, sending smoke rising from the scene, in a Sunni-dominated area between the Taji air base, 12 miles north of Baghdad, and Garma, 20 miles west of the capital. and Garma, 20 miles to the west of the capital.
"The helicopter was flying and passed over us, then we heard the firing of a missile," said Mohammad al-Janabi, a farmer who was speaking less than a half-mile from the wreckage. "The helicopter, then, turned into a ball of fire. It flew in a circle twice, then it went down."
Hey Reuters, a 46 is not a version of the 47. They do sort of look alike but then a Robin and a Blue Jay sort of look alike.
Prayers for those on board.
I feel so sorry for them. Sometimes you just get to the point and ask why doesn't the US just make this place one big green sandbox.
This not good. Not good at all. I flew choppers for two tours in Vietnam. I can't imagine flying in this environment.
Its not supposed to be funny, not at all funny. Deadly serious. We are ignoring what is really happening.
Let's just hope there wasn't too many on board.
This is the fifth chopper taken down by these batch of SA-7 missiles that were recently supplied from Iran. Isn't it about time we went to the source?
I know it when I see it. It looked like a lame attempt at humor to me. Didn't make sense anyway. The previous four choppers were downed by missiles or ground fire - not gravity.
Why in the world was this taken out of Breaking News?
Good Question.
Outrageous!
AFP reporting that Al-Qaida in Iraq is claiming responsibility for this act of terrorism.
Shoulder fired missiles is the primary reason Russia pulled out of Afghanistan. Supplied by us .
They were losing planes and helicopters at a rate they couldn't accept.
This is not a good turn of events.
This is directly related to the infiltration of the Iraqi police forces and border guard by the Shiite militia, allowing trucks safe passage loaded down with ground to air rockets and EFP’s (Explosive Form Projectiles).
Is there another thread on this or something?
Why we haven't sealed the Iran border is beyond me. Maybe we try but can't.
A squadron of Predators on 24/7 patrol over border crossings might do the trick.
it is confirmed - it crashed, this is the 5th in 2-weeks.
It is time to really rethink this entire operation/war.
After the fourth one, I thought they were changing tactics and flight operations. What does this mean?? I have a loved one in Iraq who is a pilot (thankfully not affected by today's news. God bless those and the families of those affected today).
As a pilot, perhaps leadpenny can offer some insight on this? Are they not changing tactics, or is there only so much they can change? Do you think now after this fifth one they will do more to prevent this?
Prayers to all.
It is time that the United States and its allies admit the oh-so-obvious: Iran is at war with the West. These missiles didn't grow on trees or get manufactured in some cave. They came from Iran.
Unfortunately, Iraq may end up being a lost cause. However, that does not mean that we pull out and come home. Rather, it means we take the war directly to the enemy and inflict maximum pain. This crap is coming to a head, and it's time to pop the zit known as iSlam.
Launch the B-2s and B-52s and commence firing on Iranian military targets within Iraq and across the border.
I don't know what they might be doing to change their tactics. In South Vietnam you usually flew high enough to avoid small arms. If the jungle provided enough cover and the weather forced you to stay low, you would stay real low - below 50' above the tree tops. And you'd fly varied routes. In Iraq, it's becoming something completely different. I never had to contend with missiles.
10 Tomahawks for every SA-7.
That sounds about right.
Yeah, that's what scares me- I don't know what they can do differently to avoid missiles (aside from directly taking care of the terrorists with the missiles of course).
Sickening, frustrating, and scary. So from here we just continue to pray.
This not good. Not good at all. I flew choppers for two tours in Vietnam. I can't imagine flying in this environment.
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I bet you was the guy that got bushes in the skids...
Welcome Home...;0)
"I bet you was the guy that got bushes in the skids... "
Even when we didn't need to. We just called it "low-leveling." After Vietnam the Army put a name on it - "Nap of the Earth" flying.
Usually you could get a H model Huey to about 110 knots. It was addictive down in the tree tops, but, if Lycoming ever quit, you knew you were going down in whatever was in front of you. Most of the time commanders didn't want you doing it, but most of us were young, stupid and had no future anyway, so why not? On my second tour I flew a Corps Arty CG for a while and he wanted to do nothing but "low level" flying. For me it was a license to steal.
Here but for the grace of God.
It's like a punch in the gut when I hear of a chopper going down like this. Small arms fire is almost a fair fight, but we haven't been in a fair fight for some time.
I was the third guy in an H model flying low level in a country which cannot be named when it experienced catastrophic gear box failure. I don't recommend it.
Ouch! The main transmission?
It was sarcasm, not humor at all. There is a difference.
I missed the sarcasm. Thanks.
Here but for the grace of God.
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Amen to that,,,I was there 67-68,,,Arty,,,
Ain't much "nap" in Iraq from the looks of most of it,,,
We had 1 name for CH-46-47's and you know what that is,,,
SH**Hook ! LOL,,, Hear em' comin' a mile away,,,
Hear em' comin' a mile away,,,
Like trying to sneak up on someone while bangin' on a bass drum. The 46s out of Marble Mountain in Danang used "Chatterbox" as their call sign.
I've been in a Chinook one time in my life. A Co., 4th Avn. Bn. personnel arrived in Pleiku from Ft. Lewis on C-141s one week into 1967. "Big Windy" (179th) Chinooks out of Camp Holloway took us from there to the 4th ID base camp. It was like being in an industrial sized clothes dryer. I loved flying helicopters but hated riding in them.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1781230/posts
Swampscott marine dies in chopper crash in Iraq
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