Doesn't have to be even that lucky of a hit. Helos are vulnerable machines. Once they take off for the first time, they spend the rest of their useful life waiting to crash. A shot to an engine, a control system, the main or rear rotor... and it's then a race to the ground under autorotation, if you're lucky.
It's also important to remember that the "small arms" that brought this down could be any of a wide variety of things. Could be a fairly large mounted machine gun or RPG even. It doesn't mean that somebody got lucky with a pistol or an AK 47.
Major kudos are in order for the CSAR groups. Those guys are the real heroes of this or any war.
Major kudos are in order for the CSAR groups. Those guys are the real heroes of this or any war.
Yes, they are. God bless them.