NBC's Engel Has Near Miss in Afghanistan

As U.S. news organizations step up coverage of Afghanistan (see related article, “News Networks’ ‘Surge’ in Afghanistan”), the violence there is also increasing. Monday, Oct. 26, marked the deadliest day for U.S. forces in more than four years when separate helicopter crashes killed 14 Americans.

NBC’s Richard Engel reported on the crash on Today and noted that he was supposed to be on one of the helicopters.

The first crash happened in western Afghanistan, where a helicopter went down after leaving a firefight with insurgents. Ten Americans were killed: seven members of the military and three civilians workers, according to the Associated Press.

In the second crash, two U.S. Marine helicopters collided over Helmand province, killing four service members.

Engel said during his Today report that he was supposed to be on the helicopter that crashed in western Afghanistan. He did not elaborate and an NBC News spokesperson declined comment further.