Chopper downed near Falluja, Iraq

CNN | 2 Nov 03 | CNN

[AgentEcho]

Chopper downed near Falluja, Iraq. Early report 20 casualties.

[BCrago66]

20?!?

[AgentEcho]

MSNBC - 20 Killed. Bird was a Chinook en route to Baghdad Airport.

[Azzurri]

Fox News says 20 injured, not killed.

[John H K]

Casualties does NOT = dead. Either you or MSNBC don't know the definition of "casualty."

[AgentEcho]

MSNBC stated dead. Of course I'm praying they misunderstand what casualty means.

[GeronL]

Uh Oh, the media will be calling for us to pull out now

[GeronL]

Chinook?? what type?

[NormsRevenge]

FRom Yahoo and AP

U.S. Chinook Helicopter Shot Down in Iraq

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A U.S. Chinook helicopter was shot down Sunday near Baghdad airport, injuring at least 20 people on board, a U.S. military spokesman said.

"The Chinook was shot down by an unknown weapon," said a spokesman who declined to be identified.

U.S. military officials have repeatedly warned that thousands of surface-to-air missiles remain unaccounted for Iraq (news - web sites) after the collapse of Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s regime in April and pose a threat to aviation here.

A U.S. Army Blackhawk helicopter crash-landed Oct. 25 in Tikrit after taking ground-fire, injuring one crewmember.

On June 12, a U.S. Army Apache attack helicopter was shot down by hostile fire in the western desert, and two crewmembers were rescued unhurt. Those were the only U.S. military aircraft known to have been shot down since President Bush (news - web sites) declared an end to major combat in Iraq on May 1.

The workhorse, 10-ton Chinook, which has a crew of four, is the military's most versatile heavy-lift helicopter, used primarily for troop movements, transporting artillery and similar functions.

[AgentEcho]

I'm only hearing "transport". Sorry, Im not up on chopper versions. What other types are there? Gunship, medivac?

[GeronL]

I said type, not versions. Sounds like the chopper everyone thinks of when they say Chinook...

I wasn't thinking straight and I thought it might have been the kind that crashed in the desert and water a couple of times during the war.

[AgentEcho]

CNN - 1 confirmed dead

[NautiNurse]

FNC reporting there were two helos fired upon. Missile missed the first chopper, hit the second. The first chopper then went in to get the troops on the downed chopper.

13 dead, 20 injured.

[leadpenny]

Chinook?? what type?

I'll bite. A Chinook Chinook. A CH-47. "D" probably. There are other versions, special ops for one, but if they were hauling troops it was probably a D. What I am interested in is what altitude they were at when they were hit?

The Chinook was originally developed, pre-Vietnam, for transporting things like the Honest John surface-to-surface rocket. Once deployed to Vietnam, the 1st Cav thought it might be used as a troop carrier on Combat Assualts with Gunships protecting. It quickly became apparent that the loss of 30-40 troops at one time was not acceptable. Hence, the Huey. The rest of the Vietnam war saw the Chinook carrying more on the outside than the inside in the form of sling-loads.

[txrangerette]

Reports are, these troops were
headed to R & R back home for
2 wks, then back to the War.
Families were celebrating, now
THIS. What do think of security
issues with this R & R program?
I think this is a morale-killer
thing...the terrorists know it.

[leadpenny]

I've read that. Speculation is not my business but my guess is that flights such as these may have been bordering on routine. "Routine" being relative. My hunch is that these were fast trips being conducted at altitudes below 3-400 feet AGL. The enemy picked up on standard routes to the Baghdad Airport and were lying in wait. This will most certainly change tactics.

[TomGuy]

Hit by 1 of 2 fired missiles. Copter body hardly recognizable.

[Peach]

May God hold a special place in heaven for our brave soldiers.