BAGHDAD – Fourteen US soldiers were killed when their helicopter crashed in northern Iraq on Wednesday, the US military said, in one of the worst incidents of its kind in the four-year war.
The military said in a statement that initial indications suggested the Black Hawk helicopter had suffered mechanical failure.
“There were no indications of hostile fire,” the statement said.
“Two UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters were on a night operation when one of the aircraft crashed. That helicopter had been carrying four crew members and 10 passengers,” it said.
The crash was the worst since January 2005, when 31 service personnel were killed when a Marine transport helicopter was downed.
