U.S. Copter Crashes in Honduras

WASHINGTON — A U.S. Army transport helicopter participating in a military exercise in Honduras crashed today and a number of soldiers were reported injured, Pentagon officials said. Sources said that no hostile fire was involved and that the cause appeared to be mechanical.

The officials said the accident occurred this afternoon near the Honduran town of Juticalpa--not a combat zone--and involved an American UH-1 Huey transport copter. While the initial reports were fragmentary, it appeared that the copter was carrying nine soldiers and that all of them survived, the official sources said. “We have no reports of any fatalities,” one said. “But we do have reports of some injuries and medical evacuations under way.”