Downed pilots rescued by chopper

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- A two-person Apache helicopter crew staged a dramatic rescue Monday, ferrying two of their comrades out of a combat zone south of Baghdad, military officials said Tuesday.

The four of them flew away in a two-person Apache, with two in the cockpit and two others clinging to the outside of the chopper.

Here is the account from the military, which provided some video of the rescue:

"Enemy machine-gun fire brought down a OH-58D Kiowa attack helicopter piloted by two Task Force Marne soldiers in a location full of insurgents.

The two downed pilots, both of whom received minor injuries, jumped out of the shot-down craft and threw themselves in a ditch of water to hide.

Two Army pilots in a AH-64 Apache helicopter -- braving insurgent fire -- came to assist them. Watch downed pilots scramble onto rescue chopper »

Because the rescue helicopter only had room for two, one of the Apache pilots gave up his seat in the chopper to one of the Kiowa pilots, and that Apache pilot and the other Kiowa pilot situated themselves outside the craft.

An Air Force Thunderbolt II destroyed the downed helicopter with two 500-pound laser-guided bombs after the pilots were evacuated from the area," the military said.

Marne troops have been taking on militants south of Baghdad and in one of the areas termed "Baghdad belts" southeast of the capital.

The military did not specify exactly where the rescue took place or how far the crew had to fly to reach safety. E-mail to a friend

CNN's Barbara Starr contributed to this report

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