Helicopter crash: 'The troops thought crash scene was oil fire'

Bill Neely of ITV News was with the Commandos and but for a last-minute hitch would have flown on the helicopter that crashed. Below is an edited transcript of his report.

"This was the last time Four Two Commando of the Royal Marines were to be together. A time for prayer before battle – "Grant us your blessing", they prayed. It was not to be.

"Within hours, one of the US transport helicopters arriving to take them and us into Iraq had crashed. Their mission – to take the oilfields of southern Iraq – had been eight months in the planning. They had rehearsed it for six weeks.

"Visibility was not perfect. One of the first [helicopters] to go developed technical trouble and had to return. He told me smoke from burning oil made flying conditions very tough.

"Just before three in the morning, one of the helicopters, a CH-46, was seen by the crew of another to nose-dive into the ground of the Kuwaiti desert about seven miles short of the Iraq border. It exploded almost immediately. Marines in other helicopters thought it was an oil fire. Within minutes, they were all heading back to base.

"We had been waiting in the desert to go next. This mission, which got off the ground only to run into disaster, has been aborted. A great setback, but most of all, a great tragedy.

"Back at their base, the marines digested the names of those who died – friends, comrades. The commanding officer has just told [them] that every man on board was killed – eight British servicemen and four US crew.

"So the marines wait, and shortly we will board other helicopters for Iraq. This disaster [is] a tragic reminder that, in war, the first casualty is the plan, and that with it here today have gone the lives of many brave British and American troops."