US & CA - Guard helicopter crashes; 9 hurt

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Guard helicopter crashes; 9 hurt

POSTED: 10:57 p.m. EST, January 2,

2007

SAN DIEGO, California (AP) -- A California National Guard helicopter

ferrying Border Patrol agents crashed in a rural area near the U.S.-Mexico

border on Tuesday, injuring all nine people aboard, authorities said.

Five Border Patrol agents and four members of

the Guard were aboard the UH-1 helicopter, said Col. Dave Baldwin, director of

planning and operations for the California National Guard.

Five people with neck and back injuries were

airlifted to hospitals, said Jan Caldwell, spokeswoman for the San Diego County

Sheriff's Department.

Injuries were described as moderate to major,

said Sheriff's Lt. Dave Myers.

The helicopter, one of the older models used by

the Guard, was on a routine mission, Baldwin

said, taking agents either to or from a remote site along the border.

It went down in the Otay

Mountain area about 20 miles southeast of

downtown San Diego

and a few miles north of the border. The aircraft came to rest on its belly,

with its top rotor snapped off and its tail thrust to its side.

A National Guard accident investigation team was

en route.

Authorities wouldn't speculate on the cause. Capt.

Brennan Blue of the California Department of Forestry, which provided medical

response, said that power lines were down near the crash site but that it was

unclear whether they went down before or after the crash.

The National Weather Service said skies were

clear and winds were light, although a wind advisory was called for the

mountains at midday Tuesday.

California National Guard Capt. Mike Morgan said

the UH-1 was on a mission for Operation Jumpstart, taking the border agents to

mountainous areas inaccessible by vehicle.

The operation stems from a plan announced last

year by President Bush to deploy as many as 6,000 National Guard troops along

the U.S.-Mexico border for about two years to help local and federal law

enforcers stop illegal immigration.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/01/02/copter.crash.ap/index.html

US

dasha: Ve/Sa/Ra/Me/Ve

 

CA

dasha: Sa/Mo/Ma/Ve/Ma

 

 

Best wishes,

 

Jorge

 

 

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