A U.S. military aircraft with four crew members crashed in Iraq, but none was injured and initial reports ruled out hostile action, a Defense Department official said on March 8.
A top U.S. Navy admiral told The Washington Post that Navy helicopters rescued four crew members after an emergency landing by a U.S. Army reconnaissance plane on March 5 in Iraq.
The rescue mission was launched from Irbil in northern Iraq, Admiral John Richardson told the newspaper.
"They were up, airborne, and at the location of the accident within four minutes of the alert. That was pretty good timing," Richardson said.
The plane was a twin turboprop, fixed-wing aircraft, and the cause of the crash was under investigation, the defense official said.
U.S. military commanders added more search-and-rescue teams to northern Iraq last year after a Jordanian fighter pilot's jet crashed and he was captured, tortured, and killed by Islamic State militants.