HAZARDOUS DUTY

Two American pilots and the U.S. soldier for whom they were searching were missing yesterday after an Army helicopter crashed into the Tigris River in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul...

And an article here about what the helicopter pilots are doing to avoid threats from the ground.

The pilots do not openly discuss tactics, but any Iraqi knows that U.S. helicopters fly more often at night now with lights off. They zigzag at times and change altitude.

They fly lower, which helps muffle their sound and keeps them out of sight until they are almost directly overhead. On a recent flight over Ramadi, McIntosh's Black Hawk cruised at about the height of the smokestacks at a local factory.

Viola said the insurgents can be expected to counter the adjustments with their own adaptations.