DEA personnel among 14 dead in Afghan copter crashes
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  a.. NEW: Three were the first DEA personnel to be killed in Afghanistan
  b.. Seven U.S. service members and three U.S. civilians were killed in one
crash
  c.. Four other U.S. service members killed when two copters collided
Monday
  d.. In the crashes, 28 others injured, including one U.S. civilian
Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Three Drug Enforcement Administration personnel
were among 14 Americans killed when three helicopters went down in
Afghanistan on Monday, a law enforcement source said.

They were the first DEA personnel to be killed in Afghanistan. NATO's
International Security Assistance Force said that in all, 10 people died in
one incident and four in the other.

It was the largest number of Americans killed in Afghanistan in a single day
in more than four years, according to CNN records.

ISAF ruled out enemy fire in the crash that killed four Americans and said
that enemy action was not thought to be the cause of the other.

A helicopter went down in the west of the country after a raid on suspected
drug traffickers. Seven U.S. service members and three U.S. civilians were
killed, according to an ISAF statement. Fourteen Afghan service members, 11
U.S. service members and one U.S. civilian were injured in the crash.

The helicopter was returning from a raid on a compound, ISAF had said
earlier.

The joint international security force killed more than a dozen enemy
fighters while searching the compound, ISAF said. The site was thought to
harbor insurgents tied to narcotics trafficking in western Afghanistan.

The militants were killed in a firefight when insurgents confronted the
joint force.

As the force was leaving, a helicopter "went down due to unconfirmed
reasons," ISAF said. A recovery operation was launched.

In Monday's other deadly crash, four U.S. service members were killed when
two helicopters apparently collided in the air in southern Afghanistan. Two
other NATO service members were injured.

"The incident is currently being investigated, but it is confirmed that
hostile fire was not involved," ISAF said in an earlier news release.

"Each and every death is a tremendous loss for the family and friends of
each service member and civilian. Our grief is compounded when we have such
a significant loss on one day," Col. Wayne Shanks, an ISAF spokesman, said
in a written statement.

ISAF is not announcing the names of the dead or which branch of the service
they were in, pending the notification of their relatives, ISAF told CNN via
e-mail.

¦ Reality Check© ¦ used his keyboard to write :

Fucking terrible.  Wild horses would not drag me into a helicopter
again.

--
Count Baldoni

In hoc signo vinces

On Mon, 26 Oct 2009 19:17:46 GMT, Baldoni <Baldoni...@googlemail.com>
wrote:

Riding in *any* military vehicle that is in a war-zone is dangerous
IME.  Soldiers in such positions very often have a devil-may-care
attitude and do very dangerous things, whether they are driving a
landrover or a helicopter.  You are probably OK in a tank.

When you are dodging bullets and landmines on a frequent basis, the
perceived risk of having a "normal" accident disappears into the noise
floor, and people become pretty reckless as a result.

Deaths of soldiers in road traffic accidents outweighed deaths caused
by enemy action in most months during the time I served.  Pilots would
brag about doing stunts that would have put them in prison during
peacetime.

--
Cynic

On Oct 26, 12:17 pm, Baldoni <Baldoni...@googlemail.com> wrote:

I used to work for a helicopter manufacturer. There was a drawing
once, and I won a free helicopter ride to a scenic place for a catered
picnic for two and a ride back. I opted for the set of coffee mugs
instead.

In article <9mfce593ti9q9mnbsn6pu3nn0g42q70...@4ax.com>,
 Msg. Scooter <monsignor.scoo...@gmail.com> wrote:

Nowadays you could load a Kindle.

--
 A computer without Microsoft is like a chocolate cake without mustard.