Post by Admin on Mar 30, 2009 6:08:48 GMT -6
Alaska Army National Guard helicopter crashes in Colorado high country
MONARCH PASS -- Three Alaska Army National Guard members walked away without serious injuries after their Blackhawk helicopter crash-landed in southcentral Colorado.
The helicopter went down near Monarch Pass just before 1 p.m. while in route from Fort Carson to Pocatello, Idaho, authorities said.
None of the three crew members on board required hospitalization, said Kalei Brooks, a public information officer with the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs.
Brooks said the incident is not believed to be weather-related.
Asked whether the incident would best be described as an emergency landing or a crash, Brooks said she would "categorize this as a crash."
The helicopter had ungone routine maintainance at Fort Carson and was headed to Idaho before returning to Alaska.
A crash investigation team travelling to Colorado from Fort Rucker, Alabama is being slowed by poor weather.
Monarch Pass is about 25 miles west of Salida on the Chaffee-Gunnison county line.
A representative of the Chaffee County Sheriff's Office said information on the crash would not be available until Friday.
MONARCH PASS -- Three Alaska Army National Guard members walked away without serious injuries after their Blackhawk helicopter crash-landed in southcentral Colorado.
The helicopter went down near Monarch Pass just before 1 p.m. while in route from Fort Carson to Pocatello, Idaho, authorities said.
None of the three crew members on board required hospitalization, said Kalei Brooks, a public information officer with the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs.
Brooks said the incident is not believed to be weather-related.
Asked whether the incident would best be described as an emergency landing or a crash, Brooks said she would "categorize this as a crash."
The helicopter had ungone routine maintainance at Fort Carson and was headed to Idaho before returning to Alaska.
A crash investigation team travelling to Colorado from Fort Rucker, Alabama is being slowed by poor weather.
Monarch Pass is about 25 miles west of Salida on the Chaffee-Gunnison county line.
A representative of the Chaffee County Sheriff's Office said information on the crash would not be available until Friday.