http://cmsimg.marinecorpstimes.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=M6&Date=20130418&Category=NEWS&ArtNo=304180001&Ref=AR&MaxW=640&Border=0&New-details-emerge-Marine-Corps-helicopter-crash-near-N-Korea
I HONESTLY DON'T KNOW HOW ANYONE SURVIVED THIS MANGLED WRECKAGE!
FIRST, THE UPDATE ON THIS:
New details emerge in Marine Corps helicopter crash near N. Korea
6:03 AM, Apr 18, 2013
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/article/20130418/NEWS/304180001/New-details-emerge-Marine-Corps-helicopter-crash-near-N-Korea
<<Most of the Marines involved in Tuesday’s helicopter crash near the North Korean border were Hawaii-based infantry personnel, a military official said.
All 21 U.S. troops on board the CH-53E Super Stallion survived what’s been called a “hard landing” near a South Korean training range only miles from the Demilitarized Zone. Three Marines, including an enlisted crew member, and two U.S. soldiers remain hospitalized in stable condition, 1st Lt. Gregory Carroll, a Marine spokesman based in Japan, said Wednesday. He described the injuries as minor, mostly cuts and fractures.
The troops were participating in an annual joint training exercise called 'Foal Eagle'. It involves about 10,000 U.S. military personnel partnered with their South Korean counterparts and is scheduled to end April 30.
The CH-53E, one of the Corps’ workhorse transports, was deployed to South Korea from Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 465 out of Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in southern California, said Capt. Garron Garn, a spokesman for the Japan-based 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, to which the aircraft was assigned while overseas. Its five-person crew was carrying 14 infantry troops with 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines, out of Marine Corps Base Hawaii, plus the two soldiers who are based in South Korea, Carroll said.
The military has not identified anyone involved in the mishap, and Carroll said no one would be made available for interviews.
An investigation is underway. A local firefighter who responded to the scene told Stars and Stripes that the incident occurred as the helicopter was attempting to land. It appears a powerful wind gust may have contributed to the accident, he said.
Photos taken at the scene suggest the wreckage caught fire. 'Stripes', citing unidentified South Korean officials, reported the troops were evacuated from the helicopter before it burned.>>
THE ORIGINAL REPORTS:
<<A US military helicopter taking part in a joint South Korea-US drill crashed Tuesday near the North Korean border with 21 personnel on board. There were no fatalities.
A statement put out by the US Forces in Korea said the CH-53 Super Stallion helicopter had "executed a hard landing" while on a routine flight operation in Cheolwon county, which touches on the border with North Korea.>>
US Helicopter Crashes Near North Korea Border
The aircraft carrying 21 people comes down during an exercise with South Korea, just as nuclear tensions are high in the region.
5:54pm UK, Tuesday 16 April 2013
http://news.sky.com/story/1078712/us-helicopter-crashes-near-north-korea-border
<<The precise cause of the accident was not immediately known, the statement said, adding that a "comprehensive investigation" had been ordered.
All five crew members and 16 other service personnel - who belonged to the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit stationed in Japan - were taken to a US military hospital in Seoul.
Fifteen were later released, while six remained in hospital in "stable condition".
The Korean peninsula is currently at a state of heightened military tensions, partly due to North Korea's anger over the joint exercises, which it sees as an invasion rehearsal.
Incensed by fresh UN sections following its third nuclear test in February, Pyongyang has spent weeks issuing blistering threats of missile strikes and nuclear war against the South, Japan and the US.
It has declared itself to be in a "state of war" with the South, called the US an "enemy of the state" and threatened the Japanese capital would be "consumed in nuclear flames".
On Sunday, the US and China said they were committed to finding a peaceful means of ridding North Korea of its nuclear weapons.
Secretary of State John Kerry said a further missile test would be a "huge mistake" and called on China to halt the escalating tensions.
There are 28,500 US military personnel permanently stationed in South Korea.>>
NOT THE FIRST DOWNED AIRCRAFT NEAR NORTH KOREA
Half a century of major North Korean provocations
A timeline of North Korea's major provocations since the 1960s:
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/03/26/north-korea-provocations--us/2020711/
April 27, 1965: Two North Korean MiG-17s attack a U.S reconnaissance plane above the Sea of Japan. The aircraft is damaged.
April 15,1969: A U.S. reconnaissance plane is shot down off the North Korean coast, killing 31 Americans.
December 1994: North Koreans shoot down U.S. Army helicopter, killing one American.
Oct. 9, 2012: North Korea warns that the U.S. mainland is now within the "scope of strike" of its missiles.
Dec. 12, 2012: North Korea fires long-range missile and says it has launched a satellite into orbit.
I MUST WONDER IF THIS HELICOPTER COULD POSSIBLY HAVE BEEN SHOT DOWN AS WELL, BUT WITH SUCH TENSION IN THE AREA, NORTH KOREA WAS NOT BLAMED.
THE WRECKAGE SIMPLY DOES NOT LOOK LIKE A "HARD LANDING" TO ME.
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