Peru copter crash fatal to 5 of U.S.

LIMA, Peru — Investigators picked through the wreckage Tuesday of a heavily loaded U.S.-owned cargo helicopter that crashed in the Peruvian jungle shortly after takeoff, killing its five American and two Peruvian crew members.

The tandem-rotor Chinook BH-234 helicopter, owned by Columbia Helicopters Inc. of the Portland suburb of Aurora, Ore., crashed Monday near from the provincial capital of Pucallpa.

It was under contract for petroleum exploration support and en route to a drilling location in northern Peru, said Todd Petersen, the company’s vice president of marketing.

Michael Fahey, the company president, told a news conference in Oregon the aircraft was carrying a sling load, an external cargo secured by cables. He did not specify the cargo.

Company officials said they had no immediate information on what might have caused the crash.