THREE-DAY BATTLE LEAVES 54 DEAD IN COLOMBIA

CARACAS, Oct. 20 - In the Colombian military's bloodiest setback this year,
left-wing guerrillas killed 54 members of the army and the national police
during a three-day battle in a rugged northwestern state, officials
reported today. Almost half of the dead perished when a U.S.-made Black
Hawk helicopter crashed after being hit by guerrilla fire.

The clashes occurred in the lush mountains of Antioquia as the Colombian
army moved to take back a strategic arms and drug-trafficking route from
the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. Though Colombian
military officials said today that the region had been captured, no FARC
casualties were reported, and area residents said the guerrillas still
control key towns.

As army forces attempted to recover the crashed aircraft today amid
continued fighting, Colombian military officials acknowledged that the
UH-60 Black Hawk had been hit by guerrilla gunfire but attributed the crash
to an accident.

Colombian Air Force Gen. Hector Fabio Velasco said the helicopter's tail
rotor clipped the ground as it hovered above a contested landing zone near
the town of Dabeiba, about 80 miles northwest of Medellin, amid heavy
fighting between army and guerrilla forces.

Most of the $11.7 million helicopter remained unrecoverable because of
combat and treacherous terrain, hampering an investigation into the cause
of the crash, which killed 18 army troops and four crewman. U.S. sources
said three other helicopters on the same mission returned to base riddled
with FARC gunfire, suggesting the crash may have been the result of a
guerrilla attack.

"Was this pilot error or did he take a round himself?" said one U.S.
official in Bogota. "They will begin trying to piece that together over the
next few days."

The crash investigation comes as U.S. and Colombian officials consider how
best to outfit the large, swift transport helicopters to perform in war
zones. The U.S. government is sending 15 Black Hawks to the Colombian army
and national police as part of its $1.3 billion contribution to Plan
Colombia, President Andres Pastrana's three-year strategy to cut coca
production in half.

The helicopters will be used to ferry U.S.-trained anti-drug battalions
into coca-rich regions, many of them controlled by guerrilla forces that
finance their operations through the drug trade. The downed helicopter was
not part of the U.S. package, but one of 19 purchased by the Colombian
government to support anti-drug efforts.

Before the plan's military operations begin in December, the FARC and their
privately funded paramilitary rival, the United Self-Defense Forces, have
been moving to fortify their positions in Antioquia and in southern states
where most of the military might will be directed. The FARC's 500-troop
assault on Dabeiba and surrounding towns was part of that offensive.

Last week, the Clinton administration announced that it will be sending
three fewer Black Hawks than the 18 originally planned to ensure that each
is adequately equipped for Colombia's escalating armed conflict. That could
include outfitting each with a .50-caliber Gau-19 machine gun, already
being used on the 12 Black Hawks owned by the Colombian air force.

A cable from the U.S. Embassy last month revealed that heavy Gau-19s may be
throwing the helicopters out of balance, though officials from the gun
manufacturer said today that those problems had been addressed. The downed
helicopter belonged to the Colombian army and was not mounted with a
Gau-19; instead, it was equipped with a smaller machine gun with less
range, according to officials in Bogota. The larger gun is designed to
provide covering fire from outside the range of guerrilla weapons.

The Black Hawk is the helicopter of choice in the Colombian war because it
can carry up to 22 people ­ the number aboard at the time it was downed ­
according to its manufacturer, Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., and U.S. officials
in Bogota. A U.S. Army spokesman in Washington gave a different account of
its capacity, saying that the standard combat load in U.S. Army Black Hawks
is three crew members plus a squad of 11 combat troops.

The Black Hawk can also travel faster and farther than the Bell Huey II,
the second model included in the U.S. military package.

A U.S. official in Bogota said today that Black Hawks often survive heavy
fire; one returned from a combat zone earlier this year with 82 bullet holes.

"It's still the best piece of equipment around for this work," said John
Mackey, an aide to Rep. Benjamin Gilman (R-N.Y.), who is chairman of the
House International Relations Committee and a staunch advocate of the U.S.
military package. "There has been a lot of fighting in this area, though,
and this is tough country," he said. FARC rebels shot down a Russian Mi-17
helicopter three years ago, killing five U.S. military advisers on board.