US military helicopter crashes, killing 5 soldiers

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras -- A U.S. military helicopter crashed in mountainous central Honduras, killing all five soldiers aboard, the U.S. military said Thursday.\nThe cause of the crash was not known, but there had been heavy rains in the area over the past three days.\nThe Black Hawk helicopter from Soto Cano Air Force Base in Palmerola, Honduras, crashed at 8:55 p.m. Wednesday while on routine training, said Lt. Col. Bill Costello, a spokesman for the U.S. Southern Command in Florida.\nThe crash took place in the mountains near Santa Cruz de Yojoa, 85 miles north of the capital, Tegucigalpa.\n"Right now, we are classifying it as a training accident," Costello said. "It is being investigated."\nThe names of the dead were being withheld pending notification of relatives. The crew belonged to the 1-228th Aviation Regiment, part of the U.S. Army South in Puerto Rico.\nArnold Espinal Guttered, a Honduran police spokesman near the site of the crash, told Radio HRN on Thursday that "the bodies of all the helicopter's occupants were recovered earlier this morning."\nU.S. Army South spokesman Maj. Rich Crusan confirmed that five crew members were aboard the helicopter. He said the bodies would be returned to the U.S. base in Palmerola.\nThe control tower at La Mesa international airport in San Pedro Sula, 110 miles north of Tegucigalpa, reported that the helicopter had arrived there from the Palmerola base to participate in a night landing exercise.\nAfter filling up with fuel, it was headed back to the base when it crashed 40 minutes after taking off.\nHonduran and U.S. soldiers participated in the rescue operations.\nPalmerola is a $30 million base built in 1983. It lodges 130 permanent and 195 temporary service soldiers.\nThe unit involved in the crash was assigned to Joint Task Force Bravo, the U.S. military command that conducts training, counter-drug, and humanitarian missions in Central and South America and the Caribbean.