Colombian rebels shoot down US plane, pilot unhurt

BOGOTA, Colombia, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Marxist rebels shot down a light aircraft spraying Colombian drug crops under contract for the U.S. government, but the American pilot was rescued with minor injuries, Colombian police said on Wednesday.

In February, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia kidnapped three U.S. government contractors after their aircraft crashed in southern Colombia during a drug spying mission. The Marxist group, known as FARC, declared them "prisoners of war."

One month later, three American civilians hired by the U.S. Defense Department to search for the missing personnel were killed after their plane crashed. Another U.S. pilot was killed in April, when his crop duster smashed into a tree.

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