Navy helicopter crashes in waters off Colombia

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Navy helicopter has crashed somewhere off the coast of Colombia, a Navy official said Tuesday.

Details were not yet known, but Navy Cmdr. David Werner said that the helicopter went down Tuesday morning west of Colombia. Werner, a Navy spokesman, said he did not know the status of any Navy personnel on the aircraft or the type of helicopter it is.

A search and rescue effort is underway, Werner said.

Navy aircraft often fly counter-drug missions off ships in the region. Colombia is the world's largest cocaine producer and a major supplier of heroin to the United States.

USA Today

"Another Navy spokesman, Lt. John Schofield, said later that the helicopter was an SH-60B, which normally operates with a crew of three but can have as many as five. He said it was not yet clear how many were aboard the aircraft. He said it went down under unknown circumstances in international waters west of Colombia."

Navy version of the Blackhawk, I think.

hard to have sympathy

They weren't there because they wanted to be, but because they were told to be. And, by the way, we often work with the Colombians on these drug operations.

we often do lots of things we have no business doing.

are not impressed, and don't mind saying so.

I won't support those that enable genocide!

BTW, Plan Colombia has little to do with counter-narcotics, and much to do with keeping the ruling classes in power.

that's no accident

Disgusting.

This article is, in the main, globalist drivel, but some of it's interesting:

Colombia seen unable to beat rebels without reform


BOGOTA, Colombia, Dec 13 (Reuters) - Analysts fear that, absent budget reforms to save money and encourage growth, Colombia will be unable to expand its army enough to defeat Marxist rebels and pull victims of the conflict out of poverty.

The country's consolidated public sector deficit will be about 1.2 percent of gross domestic product this year, according to the International Monetary Fund, well under the government's 1.6 percent target.

But the problem, according to Wall Street analysts, is that the Andean country is using profits from its state owned enterprises to mask a wide gap between tax revenue and government expenditure.

The central government deficit, excluding receipts from entities such as state oil company Ecopetrol, is expected to be more than 5 percent of GDP this year, and is likely to grow in 2006 due to higher public pension deficits, analysts say.

http://today.reuters.com/investing/financeArticle.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyID=URI:urn:newsml:reuters.com:20051213:MTFH33635_2005-12-13_15-56-37_N13194373:1