Two U.S. Pilots Die When Chopper Comes Down in N.Iraq
Fri January 23, 2004 04:10 PM ET

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Two U.S. pilots died on Friday when their helicopter came down near the town of Qayara in northern Iraq, the U.S. military said.

A statement said the Kiowa helicopter came down at about 8:30 p.m. (12:30 p.m. EST) northwest of Qayara, but that the cause of the crash was not known and an accompanying helicopter did not mention any hostile activity.

Qayara is located between Mosul and Kirkuk in northern Iraq.

The Kiowa is an armed reconnaissance helicopter.

U.S. forces have been subjected to frequent attacks by insurgents loyal to ousted dictator Saddam Hussein, particularly in the Sunni Triangle north and west of Baghdad that was Saddam's power base.

But Army Major General Raymond Odierno, commander of the 4th Infantry Division and responsible for a large sector where insurgents have been active, said in a briefing on Thursday that though resistances forces remained a threat, they were "a fractured, sporadic threat with the leadership destabilized."