US helicopter crashes in Baghdad area

BAGHDAD, Jan 28 (AFP) - A US helicopter crashed Friday in the Baghdad area, the US military said, adding that it did not appear to have been caused by hostile fire.
"An OH-58 Delta helicopter went down in southwestern Baghdad at 7:55 pm (1655 GMT). It does not appear that it was due to hostile fire," Lieutenant Colonel James Hutton told AFP.
A US army team was on the ground, he said, without specifying the condition of the two-man helicopter crew.
The two-seater OH-58 Delta, also known as a Kiowa Warrior, is a reconnaissance helicopter.
The crash came just two days after the US military lost 31 personnel in a helicopter accident in the desert west of Baghdad that marked its biggest single loss of life in Iraq.
Since the March 2003 invasion, at least 24 US aircraft have crashed in Iraq, killing some 80 troops.

01/28/2005 18:13 GMT - AFP