Helicopter 'hit by missile' says Iraqi official

A Sea Knight helicopter crashed near Baghdad today, sending flames and a huge plume of black smoke into the sky, the fifth helicopter lost in Iraq in just over two weeks.An Iraqi air force officer said it was downed by an anti-aircraft missile.At the Pentagon, an official said there was a report that the number of people on board the helicopter was fewer than 10.US military spokesman Major General William Caldwell said the CH-46 helicopter went down about 20 miles north west of the capital, but he declined to comment on casualties or give a cause for the crash.“A quick reaction force is on site and the investigation is going on as we speak,” he told reporters in Baghdad