ROANOKE TIMES 

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, March 4, 1991                   TAG: 9103040241
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-10   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA                                LENGTH: Short

COPTER CRASH KILLS FOUR AMERICANS

A woman pilot and three other soldiers were killed when the helicopter she piloted crashed in northern Saudi Arabia, the U.S. military said today. It was the first reported death of a woman pilot in the Gulf War.

Officials in Saudi Arabia refused to give details on the accident, but the Pentagon confirmed that Army Maj. Marie Rossi, 32, of Oradell, N.J., piloted the Chinook helicopter that crashed Saturday.

The co-pilot, Chief Warrant Officer Robert Hughes, 35, of Vernon, Conn., and crew chief Specialist William Brace, 24, of Fountain Hill, Pa., also were killed. The identity of the fourth victim was not given.

The crew were from the 159th Aviation Battalion of the 24th Infantry Division, according to Capt. Barbara Goodno, an Army spokeswoman in Washington.

Rossi piloted a Chinook cargo helicopter during the ground campaign, Goodno said.

- Associated Press 


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