Falcon Heights, Texas:

ERROR CAUSED CRASH OF MILITARY HELICOPTER

Pilot error caused the January 2003 helicopter crash that killed four
Marine fliers -- two of whom were from Michigan -- as they helped the
U.S. Border Patrol in a drug interdiction mission, Marine Forces
Reserve officials said Wednesday.

Investigators concluded the two AH1E Supra Cobra Marine helicopters
collided and crashed during the nighttime operation, 200 miles south
of San Antonio, because they were flying too close together, causing
helicopter rotor blades to tangle.

The crash killed Maj. John Walsh, 36, of West Bloomfield; Maj. Steven
Palombo, 36 of Sterling Heights; Lt. Col. Robert Theilmann, 47, of
Suffolk, N.Y., and Capt. David Cross, 34, of Centre, Pa.