A British helicopter crew have escaped without injury after their Chinook was forced to make an emergency landing late last night following an engine fire, Wednesday 19th August 2009, in Helmand Province.
The crew managed to evacuate the aircraft safely and were immediately extracted by another Chinook.
The helicopter was later deliberately destroyed by a coalition airstrike to deny it from enemy forces.
The cause of the incident is still under investigation, however enemy action has not been ruled out.
In the short term other UK aircraft in Regional Command (South) and those operated by our NATO partners will be able to cover the helicopter lift requirement. In the medium term, the UK’s Joint Helicopter Command is already planning the replacement of this airframe.
Source: Royal Air Force
