US military helicopter destroyed in Afghanistan ‘hard landing’

According to Colonel David Butler, a spokesman for US Forces Afghanistan, a CH-47 Chinook helicopter “hit the ground hard on the way to drop passengers off” during a mission in Helmand province.

Passengers and crew aboard a US military helicopter were injured when the chopper they were travelling in was destroyed during a “hard landing” in Afghanistan, a US official said Saturday.

(FILES) In this file photo taken on August 12, 2015 US army soldiers walk as a NATO helicopter flies overhead at coalition force Forward Operating Base (FOB) Connelly in the Khogyani district in the eastern province of Nangarhar. Image used for representational purpose only. ((AFP/ File photo))

According to Colonel David Butler, a spokesman for US Forces Afghanistan, a CH-47 Chinook helicopter “hit the ground hard on the way to drop passengers off” during a mission in Helmand province.

Butler said the helicopter had been totally destroyed during the landing.

“Both Afghan and US personnel were injured but all are stable and expected to recover,” he told AFP.

“No hostile fire or enemy contact involved.”

Chinooks, easily recognisable because they have one rotor at the front and one at the back, are the workhorse aircraft for foreign forces in Afghanistan, and are used to ferry troops and supplies across the country.

(This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.)