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CNN Live Today

U.S. Servicemen Injured in Helicopter Crash in Afghanistan

Aired April 11, 2002 - 13:24   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: The U.S. military has destroyed an Apache helicopter involved in an accident yesterday in Afghanistan. The chopper went down in what was being described as a hard landing in a remote part of the country. A pair of servicemen from the 101st Airborne Division were injured in this incident. We check in with CNN's Ryan Chilcote, standing by now in Kandahar. And Ryan, as I understand it, you have got two men with you who were the first on the scene there?

RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Leon, I can tell you that was a very hard landing. You might even want to call that a crash. It was quite an amazing tale. That Apache helicopter was coming back from a combat mission when it went down, and together with it there was another Apache helicopter. And the pilots of that other Apache helicopter are actually with us tonight.

They are Lieutenant Colonel Jim Richardson and Chief Warrant Officer Rich Chenault. And let me just begin by saying that these gentlemen were the first on the scene. Lieutenant Colonel Richardson, what did you do when you saw this -- the -- that their helicopter was going down?

LT. COL. JIM RICHARDSON, RESCUER: Of course we made an assessment, and we circled the area to make sure, number one, that the area was secure. And then Richard Chenault brought me close to the aircraft, and I was able to egress my aircraft, go down and make an assessment of the individuals, and provide first aid to them. And we pulled them out of the helicopter.

CHILCOTE: Lieutenant Colonel Richardson, you, I understand, actually jumped -- actually jumped out of a helicopter, out of your hovering helicopter above the ground, is that right? What was going through your mind when you did that?

RICHARDSON: Well, yes, I did, but it's nothing that any other soldier in the battalion wouldn't do for me, or I wouldn't do for any soldier in my battalion. The bottom line is that your training kicks in in a situation like that and you do what you have to do to render aid to the fallen soldiers.

CHILCOTE: Chief warrant officer, you were there on the scene. You actually piloted a two-man Apache attack helicopter on your own. What was going through your mind? C.W.O. RICH CHENAULT, RESCUER: My main concern was we had aircraft on the ground, and we really didn't know what caused that aircraft to crash. So we had an unknown end of a situation. So I wanted to provide coverage for those two crew members on the ground, in addition to the (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

CHILCOTE: Thank you very much, gentlemen.

Obviously we're with two very heroic men who broke all of the rules. One jumped out of a hovering Apache combat helicopter; the second flew a helicopter that's normally flown by two pilots all by himself to aid their pilots, their comrades. Those men are now in Germany in a hospital and in stable condition, in no small part due to the work of these two men. Back to you.

HARRIS: Boy. Thanks, Ryan. The incredible stories from Afghanistan continue to pile up. Thank you very much. Ryan Chilcote.

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