DATE=11/16/03

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=IRAQ / HELICOPTERS CRASH (S)

NUMBER=2-309869

BYLINE=ALISHA RYU

DATELINE=BAGHDAD

CONTENT=

INTRO: The U-S military in Iraq says hostile fire may have been responsible for the crash of two U-S Army Blackhawk helicopters on Saturday. The incident killed 17 U-S soldiers. Alisha Ryu reports from Baghdad.

TEXT: The two helicopters went down shortly after sunset Saturday in a residential neighborhood, just west of downtown Mosul.

Eyewitnesses say the Blackhawks collided in mid-air before they crashed. They also say one of the helicopters may have been hit by a rocket-propelled grenade.

The U-S military says the cause of the crash is still under investigation. But it does acknowledge that one of the Blackhawks may have come under hostile ground fire and swerved upward to avoid being hit. The move could have driven its rotor blades into the other helicopter, causing both to crash.

Both aircraft belonged to the U-S Army's 101st Airborne Division, which is in charge of security in Mosul.

The city, Iraq's third largest, has been mostly peaceful, until recently. U-S troops there have come under numerous attacks in the past few weeks from what the military believes is a mix of Saddam loyalists, Islamic militants, and foreign fighters. (Signed)

NEB/AR/KBK