Vietnam crash kills 16, Pentagon says

Victims include U.S. MIA search team

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A helicopter crash in Vietnam killed 16 people Saturday, including seven American servicemen and nine Vietnamese searching for sites containing the remains of U.S. troops missing in action, U.S. Pacific Command told CNN.

The U.S. team was part of a group making site surveys for possible excavations for American remains in central Vietnam, the Pentagon said. They were members of Full Accounting, a joint task force on a mission to find U.S. servicemen and women missing in action from the Vietnam War.

A Vietnamese military official told Reuters a Russian-made M1-17 helicopter crashed into a mountainside in heavy fog in the Quang Binh province, Thanh Tranh commune of Bo Trach district, about 700 meters from Vietnam's main north-south road artery, Highway One.

Military officials said those aboard the helicopter were preparing for a recovery operation when it crashed about 250 miles south of Hanoi.

VIDEO CNN's Eileen O'Connor reports on Bush's statement on the helicopter crash in Vietnam Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)

"It is obviously a tragic accident, and we are going to have to assess from this situation exactly what is going in terms of our MIA recovery operation," said task force spokesman Lt. Col. Franklin Childress during a news conference in Hawaii.

"Right now we just in the mode of trying to find out what happened, and then we'll be in the mode of assessing what we are going to do as a result of the accident."

"Our hearts, prayers and deepest sympathies go out to the families of those involved in this incident, both Americans and Vietnamese."

The Pentagon was withholding their names pending notification of their next of kin. A U.S. Pacific Command statement said the accident was under investigation.

The National Alliance of Families for the Return of America's Missing Servicemen also mourned the deaths.

"We extend our sincere condolences to the families of these service members," the group said in a statement. "Please find comfort in the fact that your loved one will always be remembered for their commitment to finding our loved ones."

In a statement, U.S. President George W. Bush said he was "saddened" by the crash.

The Full Accounting task force was created in 1992 in response to presidential, congressional and public interest, as well as increased opportunities for case resolution and increased willingness by the governments of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia to share information about missing Americans, according to the website of the U.S. Embassy in Thailand.

The task force has detachments in Bangkok, Thailand; Hanoi; and Vientiane, Laos.

As of 1973, there were approximately 1,500 Americans unaccounted for in Vietnam, more than 500 in Laos and about 80 in Cambodia. Another 425 were lost over water off the Vietnamese coast, the website said.

Since its inception, the task force has conducted 590 operations and repatriated about 500 sets of remains believed to be those of missing Americans, according to Lt. Cmdr. Sean Kelly of the Pacific Command.

Correspondent Eileen O'Connor contributed to this report.

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