Military

DATE=11/2/2003

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=IRAQ/HELICOPTER (L-UPDATE)

NUMBER=2-309332

BYLINE=GREG LAMOTTE

DATELINE=BAGHDAD

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: At least 15 U-S soldiers were killed and 21 others injured Sunday when a U-S army helicopter crash-landed about 60 kilometers west of Baghdad, in what appears to have been a missile attack. V-O-A'S Greg LaMotte is in the Iraqi capital with the details.

TEXT: It was the deadliest attack against American forces in Iraq since the conclusion of major combat operations May 1st.

At nine o'clock Sunday morning (local time), a U-S Army Chinook helicopter, transporting a group of soldiers to Baghdad International Airport who were heading home for leave, was shot down near the town of Fallujah, west of Baghdad.

The U-S military says the incident is under investigation, and it is aware of eyewitness reports from residents who said they saw a missile trail just before the helicopter was hit.

Two other U-S helicopters have been hit by ground fire over the past six months. Neither of those incidents resulted in any deaths.

The heavy-duty Chinook helicopter is widely used by the Army to transport troops and artillery supplies.

On Thursday, coalition forces announced that aircraft near Baghdad International Airport had come under ground fire over the past several weeks, but that none had been struck.

Coalition forces have been unable to locate a large number of shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles that were part of the arsenal of Saddam Hussein's former regime. That is a primary reason why Baghdad International Airport has not been reopened to commercial traffic.

The portable missiles are easily smuggled.

It is estimated that there are about 350-thousand tons of missing weapons and ammunition in Iraq. (SIGNED)

NEB/GL/ALW/TW