Three AAR Airlift employees killed in helicopter crash

KABUL, Afghanistan — A civilian helicopter crashed in southern Afghanistan Monday, killing all three people on board, an Afghan official said.

The crew members were employees for AAR Airlift, a unit of Wood Dale-based AAR Corp., the company confirmed.

Marjan Haqmal, police chief of Nad Ali district in Helmand Province, said the Russian-made aircraft probably went down because of a technical malfunction.

NATO confirmed that a civilian helicopter crashed Monday in southern Afghanistan. It said the site of the crash has been secured and that coalition forces are trying to gather more information about what happened.

The alliance did not provide information about casualties, but AAR released a statement that the crew members worked for the company. The crew was conducting operations for the Department of Defense at the time of the crash, the release stated.

The families of all three crew members have been contacted, the company said. AAR did not release the names of the victims or where they were from.

There were no passengers aboard the aircraft at the time of the accident.

AAR Airlift provides airlift services for personnel, supplies and mail, as well as specialized aircraft modifications for the NATO-led coalition. The coalition relies heavily on helicopters or airdrops to deliver food and other supplies to remote outposts in order to avoid using roads that are frequently mined by the insurgents. Transport aircraft are also frequently used for airdrops to isolated bases.

The Taliban have few dedicated anti-aircraft weapons, but they have damaged or destroyed dozens of helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft using automatic rifles and other infantry weapons. In August, militants shot down a U.S. Chinook transport helicopter, killing 30 U.S. special operation troops, a translator and seven Afghan commandos.