jock4419
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« on: November 23, 2007, 01:47:21 PM » |
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Two SAS soldiers die as RAF helicopter crashes in Iraq
Richard Norton-Taylor
Thursday November 22, 2007
The Guardian
An inquiry was under way last night into why an RAF Puma helicopter
crashed, killing two SAS soldiers and seriously injuring two others, in an
anti-insurgency mission on the outskirts of Baghdad.
A further seven SAS troops and three RAF crew survived and were
rescued. The special forces soldiers were on a covert mission when the Puma
crashed on Tuesday night near Salman Pak. The Ministry of Defence, which
does not officially comment on special operations, said the injured
personnel were recovering in hospital and the next of kin had been
informed.
An MoD spokesman said: "It is too early to speculate on the cause of
the crash. An RAF board of inquiry has already been convened and is en
route to Iraq to conduct its investigations."
The US military said the crash was not believed to have been caused by
enemy fire.
SAS patrols have been operating in Iraq since before the invasion in
2003. A squadron of at least 60 from 22 SAS Regiment, based about 50
miles from Baghdad, is deployed there, often working with US counterparts
targeting suspected insurgency leaders and units of al-Qaida in Iraq.
The Puma, one of the air force's workhorses, entered service in 1971
and is the oldest helicopter operated by the RAF. They are regularly
flown at low level, avoiding possible rocket and missile attacks. There
have been a number of fatal crashes involving the aircraft in recent
years. Two Pumas collided north of Baghdad in April, killing an RAF crewman
and a member of the special forces. It seemed a dust storm, generated
by turbulence caused by the rotors, had blinded one of the pilots.
In August, a soldier and two RAF crew died when their Puma crashed in a
field near Catterick Garrison in North Yorkshire. Yesterday's deaths
bring to 173 the number of British military fatalities since hostilities
began in Iraq in March 2003.
An RAF Hercules adapted for special forces operations with a crew
attached to the SAS was brought down by rocket fire in January 2005 north of
Baghdad, killing all 10 people on board in the biggest single loss of
British life since the invasion.
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