The US pilots later allowed an Iraqi search-and-rescue helicopter to fly to the crash site and then return to its base.

"He couldn't walk, so a search-and-rescue helicopter lifted him out on a litter," Mr. Kane said.

"You carry a search-and-rescue helicopter on your fantail."

Two military officials said the two troops killed were crew members aboard a search-and-rescue helicopter on stand-by in support of the raids.

Operations Specialists play an important role with search-and-rescue teams, such as man overboard and directing search-and-rescue helicopters to downed pilots at sea.

Since then, a Kamov Ka-27PS search-and-rescue helicopter was flown close to the carrier in the event of an accident.

And two Army soldiers were killed when their search-and-rescue helicopter, set aloft for the commando raid, crashed when it tried to land in Pakistan.

The Vice President imagined his group the survivors of a shipwreck who watched helplessly while the last search-and-rescue helicopter spun north towards the mainland.

They were in a search-and-rescue helicopter that never flew over Afghanistan and crashed in Pakistan when dust was kicked up its rotor blades.

Two parachutes were sighted, and a Libyan search-and-rescue helicopter was later detected headed for the area.