Army Air Crews - 21FEB07 UH-60 Iraq

« 21FEB07 UH-60 Iraq »

Welcome Guest. Please Login or Register.
May 19, 2013, 4:27pm

Go to: ArmyAirCrews.com - Army Aviation Crewmembers Line of Duty Deaths

Army Air Crews :: Latest Non-Fatal Army Aviation Crashes :: News Articles & Photos :: 21FEB07 UH-60 Iraq

Author

Topic: 21FEB07 UH-60 Iraq (Read 1,627 times)

Admin
Administrator

member is offline

[avatar]

Computer CE

Joined: Nov 2004
Gender: Male

Posts: 260
Location: Texas
Karma: 6

21FEB07 UH-60 Iraq
« Thread Started on Feb 21, 2007, 1:43pm »

U.S. Military Investigates Reports of Helicopter Downed in Iraq

Feb. 21 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. military said it's checking into reports that a Blackhawk helicopter was shot down in Iraq today.

``We are looking into these reports,'' the military said in an e-mailed statement.

The Arabic-language television channels al-Arabiya and al- Jazeera cited witnesses as saying a U.S. Blackhawk helicopter was shot down in northern Baghdad.

Six U.S. helicopters have been downed in Iraq in the past month, prompting the Defense Department to study whether insurgents are developing new tactics against the aircraft. Five other U.S. helicopters crashed between Jan. 20 and Feb. 2, killing 21 people. Three were military helicopters and two were operated by U.S. contractors, the Pentagon said.

Black Hawk down north of Baghdad - U.S. military

BAGHDAD, Feb 21 (Reuters) - A U.S. Black Hawk helicopter with nine people on board went down north of Baghdad on Wednesday, the military said.

A statement from the U.S. military said all nine were evacuated and there were no serious injuries. The cause of the incident is under investigation.

Iraqi police captain Mahmoud al-Mashhadani said he saw some type of projectile hitting the helicopter before it came down in a rural area known as the Line, 30 kilometres north of Baghdad.

"I saw a ball of fire hitting the aircraft and smoke coming out of the helicopter as it came down," Mashhadani told Reuters.

Major-General William Caldwell, the chief U.S. military spokesman, told a news conference the helicopter had made a "hard landing", without giving more detail.

Insurgents have shot down seven helicopters in Iraq since Jan. 20, killing 28 people, mainly American soldiers. Five of those helicopters were U.S. military aircraft and two belonged to a private American security company.

The incidents have questions about whether insurgents are using new tactics, such as studying aircraft flight patterns, or have acquired sophisticated weaponry.

U.S. commanders have said one reason they believe insurgents had focused on helicopters was to try to undermine a security crackdown in Baghdad that began last week.

« Last Edit: Feb 22, 2007, 8:10am by Admin »

Link to Post - Back to Top IP:

Logged

---------------------------
[image]

Admin
Administrator

member is offline

[avatar]

Computer CE

Joined: Nov 2004
Gender: Male

Posts: 260
Location: Texas
Karma: 6

Re: 21FEB07 UH-60 Iraq
« Reply #1 on Mar 1, 2007, 12:28pm »

Heyward Davis injured in Iraq

Captain Heyward Davis was slightly injured when the US Army Blackhawk helicopter in which he was a passenger was shot down near Tijis, Iraq, on Wednesday, Feb. 21, according to his father, Judge RB Davis of Jasper.

The aircraft, one of two flying to Tijis, was engaged by small arms, a fifty-caliber machine gun and a larger anti-aircraft weapon. The pilot and crew responded promptly by returning fire and believe they hit one of the larger weapons.

The pilot took immediate and appropriate evasive action, but the tail of the helicopter was struck and the tail rotor knocked off. The plane crashed but everyone walked away from the crash except one soldier who was injured. CPT. Davis carried the injured man from the crash.

Aircraft were sent immediately to help the damaged helicopter. The trail helicopter provided suppressive fire until additional help arrived. Two Kiawah and then two Apache helicopters quickly arrived on the scene and provided further cover and suppressive fire.

Additional choppers were sent to evacuate the passengers and crew and to recover the downed helicopter. One Apache gunship helicopter was able to engage and destroy a truck full of armed insurgents as it rushed toward the crash site following the ambush.

CPT. Davis called his wife in Ft. Lewis, Wash. and his parents here on the morning of Thursday, Feb. 22, to tell them his injuries were relatively minor and that everyone else escaped with their lives.

“It was a well planned aerial ambush but everyone on our side did their jobs just right - great flying by the pilot and terrific response by the crew,” said CPT. Davis. “On the ground the soldiers all got each other out and formed a perimeter and prepared to fight it out. The gunships arrived and finished what the enemy started. No US losses and several insurgents put out of action.”

CPT. Davis was born in Jasper but moved to Gainesville while in the third grade. He attended JJ Finley Elementary and Westwood Middle School, and graduated in 1995 from Gainesville High School where he was captain of the swim team. He was a long time member of the FAST swim team at the University of Florida. He is a 1999 graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, NY. He and his family appreciate the many prayers for his safety.

Link to Post - Back to Top IP: