22 Service Members Injured in Syria Helicopter ‘Mishap’

Twenty-two U.S. service members were injured in a “helicopter mishap” in Syria over the weekend, the Pentagon revealed late on Monday. 

“A helicopter mishap in northeastern Syria resulted in injuries of various degrees to 22 U.S. service members” on Sunday, U.S. Central Command said in a statement. 

The service members are receiving treatment for their injuries, with 10 evacuated to higher care facilities outside CENTCOM’s area of responsibility, the command noted. 

“The cause of the incident is under investigation, although no enemy fire was reported,” according to the statement, which did not include further details of the type of helicopter that was involved or time of day the incident took place. 

Deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh later told reporters on Tuesday that the incident involved an MH-47 Chinook helicopter.

The transport aircraft, which has tandem rotors, “had a problem with one rotor that caused a hard landing during takeoff,” she said. 

“We will hopefully learn more soon but as of right now, all of the service members involved in that crash are in stable condition,” Singh added.

There has been a string of military helicopter accidents in recent months, including in March, when three soldiers were killed, and another injured when two Army helicopters crashed while returning from a training flight over Alaska. 

The same month, nine people were killed when two Black Hawk helicopters with the Army’s 101st Airborne Division crashed during a training exercise in Kentucky. 

And a Black Hawk helicopter crashed along an Alabama highway during a training exercise in February, killing two Tennessee National Guard pilots. 

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