KABUL - A US Air Force Osprey went down in southeastern Afghanistan, the US military said Friday, killing three service members and one civilian contractor in the first crash of the costly tilt-rotor aircraft in a combat zone. It's unclear what caused the crash of the US military's latest generation transport aircraft ��" beset for years by cost overruns and design flaws. A NATO statement said "numerous other service members" were injured when the aircraft, which takes off and lands like a helicopter, crashed late Thursday seven miles (11 kilometers) from Qalat, capital of Zabul province about 200 miles (300 kilometers) southwest of Kabul. A Taliban spokesman said militants shot down the aircraft, but the insurgents often make exaggerated claims. NATO said the cause was still under investigation. A Pentagon spokesman, Marine Maj. Shawn Turner, said it was the first time that an Osprey, which cost nearly $70 million apiece, has crashed during operations in a war zone. After years of tests and modification, the Ospreys went into service in the Air Force and Marine Corps in 2006. They were used by the Marines in Iraq starting in late 2007, mostly for transporting troops and supplies in Anbar province. But they were not truly tested in combat there. The worst of the fighting in Anbar had already passed because many insurgents there had switched sides. A Marine Osprey flew then-candidate Barack Obama from Iraq to Amman, Jordan, during his visit to the Middle East in July 2008. The Air Force version is believed to be used in Afghanistan primarily for resupply missions and for transporting special operations troops hunting Taliban and al-Qaida figures. Aircraft are used extensively in Afghanistan by both NATO and the Afghan government forces to transport and supply troops spread across this mountainous country, where roads are few and primitive. Losses have been relatively light because unlike Iraqi insurgents, the Taliban lack shoulder-fired missiles and other anti-aircraft weapons, relying mostly on machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades to fire at aircraft during landings and takeoffs. Nevertheless, one of the heaviest single-day losses of life for allied forces in Afghanistan occurred on June 28, 2005, when 16 US troops died aboard a Special Forces MH-47 Chinook helicopter that was shot down by insurgents. The Osprey is the US military's latest-generation transport aircraft, able to travel twice as fast and three times farther than its predecessor, the Vietnam War-era CH-46 Sea Knight. With room for up to 24 passengers, it comes equipped with sophisticated guidance and missile defense systems.
