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CNN Live At Daybreak

Update on Downed Apache Helicopter

Aired April 12, 2002 - 05:46   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.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And we have new information this morning on the crash of an Apache helicopter in Afghanistan this week and the heroic effort to rescue the crew of the downed chopper.

CNN's Ryan Chilcote joins us live from Kandahar with the latest on that. Tell us about it.

RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well good morning to you.

First off, starting with the cause of that crash, it is still unknown. Interestingly, shortly after that crash took place, the U.S. Army called it a hard landing, U.S. Central Command came out saying that they did not know the exact cause of the crash but that they were already ruling out hostile fire. Interestingly, since then on the ground here at the Kandahar Air Base, I have been hearing that they are not ruling out hostile fire. That apparently this helicopter, that Apache that went down the day before yesterday, was traveling within 20 kilometers or 15 miles of a known pocket of al Qaeda and Taliban forces.

What we do know now is a very heroic rescue mission that took place immediately after that Apache went down. That Apache was actually flying in a pair with another one that was in the front position. That Apache in the lead position heard in its intercom from its partner behind, I'm going down, I'm going down. It immediately banked to the right and looked back and watched the -- that Apache crash into a mountainside. At that point things developed, and we actually were able to speak with the U.S. Army's most senior officer in southern Afghanistan.

He picks up the story where I'm leaving it off.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COL. FRANK WIERCINSKI, U.S. ARMY: That crew went into immediate action. The battalion commander, who was flying in the front seat, jumped out of his helicopter as it was hovering to get to that helicopter on the ground, ripped open the doors, found his people in a -- in a helicopter that was leaking fuel on hot engines and ammunition and pulled his people out of that helicopter while the wing man went back in the air and placed a cap over all three of them now on the ground to ensure no one came next to them.

(END VIDEO CLIP) CHILCOTE: Now just to give you an idea of exactly how heroic that is, I remind you that the Apache is an attack helicopter. It is not designed to get in and out of quickly. More or less when you're hovering more than 10 feet above ground, it's simply to fire weapons. So this man actually lifted his -- the door of his cockpit and pulled himself out and jumped off a hovering helicopter. That might be a first in military history.

Now the other second very heroic thing is that the other pilot that was on board then continued to fly that Apache helicopter around the crash site, providing them with protection, as the colonel mentioned, while they -- while his partner rendered assistance to those two men that were trapped inside the other Apache.

You know the Apache combat helicopter is a two-seater helicopter and it is meant to be flown by two pilots. So that's another precedent, perhaps, in military history, one pilot single-handedly flying a two-pilot plane.

I had an opportunity to speak with the two pilots involved in that rescue and a very modest Lt. Col. Jim Richardson. This is what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. COL. JIM RICHARDSON, U.S. ARMY: I did nothing that any other soldier in my battalion would do and that -- and that's to render aid to a fallen soldier. And I'm -- tonight I understand that these soldiers are listed in stable condition, and I hope they get well soon.

CHILCOTE (on camera): I understand you actually jumped out of a hovering helicopter.

RICHARDSON: Yes, the terrain was pretty treacherous in that area so we couldn't find a good place to land. And so Rich was able to maneuver the helicopter in that type of environment. I felt very comfortable doing that. I just jumped out of the helicopter to go and render assistance.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHILCOTE: Well a truly, truly amazing tale of a rescue there, and we'll just have to stand by and find out exactly what happened to that hot combat helicopter that went down two days ago.

Back to you.

COSTELLO: That is an amazing story. And it reminds us, again, that things are still dangerous for troops in Afghanistan.

All right, Ryan Chilcote, thank you very much for reporting for us out of Afghanistan this morning.

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