10:53am UK, Thursday April 03, 2003

A US fighter bomber may have been shot down in a friendly fire incident.

180 hornet jet shot down iraq

Debris from the Hornet, according to Iraqi TV

Reports from Washington claim the F/A-18 Hornet was shot down by a Patriot missile.

Earlier it was thought the plane was downed by an Iraqi surface-to-air missile.

A Black Hawk helicopter was also hit by small arms fire - but new US reports claim mechanical failure may have caused the crash.

An intense search and rescue operation has been launched to find the missing jet pilot.

However, there are still conflicting reports about the number of personnel on board the helicopter when it crashed.

CentCom said there were at least six people on board and gave no confirmation of casualties.

The Pentagon said seven were killed and four rescued with injuries.

Both aircraft came down over Karbala, where there has been fierce fighting between the Army's 3rd Infantry Division and Iraqi troops, including Saddam Hussein's elite Republican Guard forces.

The Hornet is designed for carrying out both bombing raids and fighting other aircraft.

The Black Hawk was the second US helicopter to go down in combat.

An Army Apache assault helicopter crashed on March 24 during an assault on Republican Guards.

Its two pilots were captured by Iraqis.

The UH-60 Black Hawk is one of the Army's main utility and troop transport helicopters.

Each one is flown by a crew of four and can carry up to 11 soldiers.

Meanhwhile, a US Marine was killed when he was struck by low-hanging power cable as he travelled in a truck outside Nassiriya.