| U.S. Apache Shot Down in Iraq |
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Tuesday, January 13, 2004  BAGHDAD, Iraq — A U.S. Army Apache helicopter (search) from Fort Carson (search), Colo., was shot down Tuesday near the western Iraqi town of Habbaniyah -- the third helicopter downed in the region in less than two weeks. The two crew members of the AH-64 gunship were safe, and the U.S. military secured the area, military spokesman Col. William Darley said. "It was apparently downed by enemy fire," Darley said. "I understand they were not hurt." The attack helicopter belongs to the U.S. Army's 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment (search), based at Fort Carson, which operates the air base north of Habbaniyah. A U.S. military quick-reaction force rescued the crew members. The region west of Baghdad is a hotbed of anti-U.S. guerrilla activity and the scene of several previous helicopter downings. On Jan. 8, a U.S. Army Black Hawk medevac helicopter was shot down by a rocket near Fallujah, killing all nine U.S. soldiers aboard, including four from Fort Carson. Fallujah is 12 miles from Habbaniyah. The Black Hawk was on a "routine medical flight" at the time of the crash, said a statement by the 82nd Airborne Division. On Jan. 2, an Army OH-58 Kiowa Warrior helicopter was shot down, also near Fallujah. The pilot, 27-year-old Army Capt. Kimberly Hampton, was killed and the second pilot was injured. Hampton, who was based at Fort Bragg, N.C., was the first female pilot killed in Iraq. The Apache shot down Tuesday was the second of the heavily armed gunships downed by guerrilla fire since President Bush declared an end to major combat May 1. On June 12, an Apache belonging to the Army's 101st Airborne Division was shot down near the town of Duluiyah, north of Baghdad. Both crew members were rescued. On March 24, during the war, an AH-64 Apache crashed in a hail of small-arms fire during an assault on Republican Guard forces south of Baghdad. The Apache's two pilots were held prisoner before being rescued April 13. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,108212,00.html
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