By Ryan Browne
A US Marine Corps MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft (click here) has crashed in Syria, two US military officials told CNN Friday.
The US-led coalition, Operation Inherent Resolve, issued a statement Friday, confirming the crash of an Osprey but not specifying the location of the incident, merely saying it took place in "the Middle East."
The statement also said that two US service members were injured in the landing but added that the injuries were "non-life threatening" and said that they have both been released from a medical treatment facility.
The coalition said the cause of the incident is being investigated but one US military official told CNN that it was not due to enemy activity, describing it as a hard landing.
Another official said the aircraft was heavily damaged in the landing and is currently considered non salvageable for military use....
The blasted plane is a flying disaster.
June 5, 2009
By David Hambling
An unfortunate incident last month (click here) when a MV-22 Osprey was damaged in a grass fire is just the latest indication that the tilt-rotor's fearsomely hot exhaust can cause real problems; it can even damage ships' decks.
Eagle-eyed Osprey-watcher Springbored noticed some differences between the Marine Corps explanation of the event and the coverage on a local news channel in North Carolina, where the incident occurred.
In the official version, the aircraft landed due to mechanical problems at 7 pm in Holly Shelter Game Land in Pender County, NC. When it was preparing to take off, the heat from the exhaust ignited the grass underneath it.
“The grass fire was quickly extinguished by the crew chief, but caused an undetermined amount of heat damage to the aircraft exterior,” according to a rather bland Corps statement....
Assad still doesn't know who the enemy is.
By Kareem Shaheen
Renewed bombing (click here) of hospitals in Syria’s six-year civil war by forces loyal to the government of Bashar al-Assad has sparked strong condemnations by human rights groups and despair among local doctors, who have accused the international community of ignoring attacks on medical facilities.
Doctors said four hospitals had been hit over the past week in Idlib, a rebel-controlled province bordering Turkey, and Hama, the scene of recent fighting despite a months-long ceasefire brokered by Ankara and Moscow.
A fifth hospital in Idlib was damaged on Friday afternoon after a nearby residential building was bombed, killing 14 people, local sources said.
“It is demonstrably evident that hospitals are not safe from bombings in Idlib at the moment, and this is outrageous,” said Brice de le Vingne, the director of operations at Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), which provides support to one of the hospitals that were hit in recent days....
