International Security

Two separate air crashes in Afghanistan killed 14 Americans. WaPo reports

The first helicopter crashed in Western Afghanistan after leaving a joint operation with NATO and Afghan forces against insurgents and suspected drug traffickers, officials said. That crash killed seven troops and three civilian U.S. government employees who were reportedly connected with anti-drug operations.

In the second accident, two military helicopters collided in mid-air in eastern Afghanistan, killing four U.S. troops, officials said. No other details were provided, but NATO officials also ruled out any hostile attack or foul play.

No foul play? That’s been ruled out already? What are the odds of these two accidents on the same day?

This is the highest number of Americans killed in one day there in four years. What was going wrong in each situation? Maintenance, pilot error, malfunction in equipment/flight controls, sabotage?

(Gene Thorp – WaPo)