Saturday April 7 6:42 PM ET Vietnam Helicopter Crash Kills 7 US, 9 Vietnamese

By David Brunnstrom

HANOI (Reuters) - Sixteen people, including seven U.S. troops searching for the remains of servicemen missing from the Vietnam War, were killed when a Russian-made helicopter crashed into a mountain in central Vietnam on Saturday, a U.S. embassy spokesman said.

``The embassy has been informed by Vietnamese authorities that a helicopter went down in Quang Binh province this afternoon with seven Americans and nine Vietnamese aboard, including crew,'' the spokesman said.

The Hawaii-based U.S. Pacific Command, citing Vietnamese officials, said: ``Reportedly there are no survivors.'' It identified the helicopter as a Russian-made Mi-17.

The Defense Department confirmed that seven U.S. military personnel and nine Vietnamese were killed in the crash.

President Bush (news - web sites) said in a written statement on Saturday that he was deeply saddened by the crash and called it a terrible loss for the United States.

``The families of the service personnel lost in today's tragic accident know better than most the contribution their loved ones made in bringing closure to scores of families across America,'' Bush said.

The U.S. Pacific Command, which is operationally responsible for the hunt for Americans still listed as missing from the Vietnam war, said the helicopter had been en route to recover suspected remains of Americans lost during the war that ended in 1975 with a communist victory.

``Today's loss is a terrible one for our nation. Although not lost in a hostile act, like those for whom they search, they too have lived lives of great consequence, answering a calling of service to their fellow citizens,'' Bush said.

``It's an unfortunate accident,'' said Navy Lt. Cmdr. Terry Sutherland, a Pentagon (news - web sites) spokesman. ``Right now our concern is with the families.''

He said the names of the Americans would be released only after next-of-kin had been notified, adding that notification was under way.

A Vietnamese soldier at Quang Binh province's military command center told Reuters the helicopter crashed into the mountainside in Thanh Tranh commune of Bo Trach district, about 765 yards from Vietnam's main north-south road artery, Highway One.

``The helicopter crashed into the mountain in thick fog,'' he said. ``There were 16 people aboard and all were killed.''

The commune is about 280 miles south of Hanoi, the national capital.

Chartered, Soviet-Made Helicopter

The embassy spokesman said the team had been on a routine mission to prepare to recover Americans listed ``missing in action,'' or MIA, from the Vietnam War.

``American and Vietnamese officials are taking appropriate actions to recover and identify those aboard, and notify next of kin,'' the Pacific Command said in a statement. The accident was under investigation, it added.

The official in Vinh said the helicopter had been on a flight to the central city of Hue.

It left Vinh at 3:15 p.m. and had been scheduled to stop at Dong Hoi, the Quang Binh provincial capital, before heading south to Hue. The flying time from Vinh to Bo Trach would be about 25 minutes.

The crash was the first known in the course of a long U.S. military program to account for U.S. MIAs from the Vietnam War.

The United States still lists nearly 1,500 servicemen MIA in Vietnam and Washington has made accounting for these personnel its highest priority in its relations with its former enemy Hanoi.

It conducts regular searches, which often involve helicopter flights carrying both U.S. military and civilian personnel and Vietnamese military and civilians.

Most U.S. personnel lost in the northern part of Vietnam during the war were air crew on bombing missions.

The crash was the latest in a series of mishaps involving U.S. military personnel, including air crashes in Britain and Germany last month and the collision of a U.S. spy plane with a Chinese fighter over the South China Sea on April 1. http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010407/ts/vietnam_helicopter_dc_6.html

-- Carl Jenkins (somewherepress@aol.com), April 07, 2001