10 Hurt in Crash of Army Copter in Honduras

A U.S. military helicopter crashed Monday in Honduras about 35 miles from the Nicaraguan border during special exercises with Honduran forces, injuring 10 soldiers believed to be from the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division, the Pentagon reported.

All 10 servicemen who went down with the helicopter were being treated for minor injuries in Honduras and were in “good to excellent condition,” Capt. Nancy LaLuntas, a Pentagon spokeswoman, said.

Pentagon officials did not know what caused the crash of the helicopter, a UH-1 “Huey” but said there was “no indication” that hostile fire was to blame.

The servicemen apparently were among 3,150 U.S. troops sent to the Central American nation Thursday to conduct maneuvers with Honduran forces. That action came after the Administration charged that more than 1,000 Nicaraguan troops launched an incursion across the Honduran border to attack U.S.-backed Contras there last week.

Technical Problems in Past

The UH-1 has been plagued with technical problems that have led to crashes, though the Army says mechanical problems have not been responsible for any crashes since it issued new operating instructions to pilots three years ago.

The helicopter crashed at midday in a mountainous region where the North Carolina-based paratroopers were conducting maneuvers throughout the day with Honduran infantrymen.

The crash site is about 60 miles from the area where Washington said the Sandinista incursion occurred and six miles south of Juticalpa, where a battalion from the 82nd Airborne began conducting maneuvers Sunday morning with Honduras’ 16th Infantry Battalion. The exercise at Juticalpa was one of two U.S.-Honduran training drills taking place close to the Nicaraguan border.

The craft that crashed Monday was one of about eight Huey helicopters in service with Joint Task Force Bravo, a 1,100-man U.S. contingent stationed permanently in Honduras to coordinate U.S. military exercises there.