Pyeongtaek residents return to homes

[unhappycamper]

Pyeongtaek residents return to homes
By Franklin Fisher and Hwang Hae-rym, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Thursday, March 12, 2009

PYEONGTAEK, South Korea — Residents are back in all but one of the houses that were damaged by a U.S. Army helicopter last month, South Korean authorities said Tuesday.

Rotor wash from a CH-47 Chinook heavy-lift helicopter ripped at about 10 dwellings Feb. 25 in Songhwa-ri, a village of about 300 people just outside Camp Humphreys.

The air current thrashed roofs, fences, walls, doors, windows and other objects. Many residents are aging rice farmers.

The tandem-rotor Chinook was leaving Humphreys with a piece of excavation equipment slung underneath around 12:15 p.m. According to residents, it appeared to tilt to one side as if struggling with its cargo.

The aircraft was assigned to the 2nd Infantry Division’s 2nd Combat Aviation Brigade at Humphreys.


Rest ofarticle at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=61263