27/11/2009 A US Air Force rescue team Friday recovered the bodies of three crew from the wreck of a helicopter that crashed in remote mountains in eastern Afghanistan.
 
The three were believed to be Ukrainians reported missing after their helicopter, a Russian-built Mi-8, disappeared in bad weather late Monday, US Air Force rescue team members said.
 
The three bodies were taken to a US military mortuary at Bagram for further identification, but rescuers who recovered debris from the crash site were certain they had found the helicopter reported missing.
 
A partial serial number found on the Mi-8's tail rotor matched the number provided to rescuers by the company which chartered the aircraft, a member of the rescue crew said, speaking on condition of anonymity. "The last six serial numbers match the numbers given" by the aircraft's charter company, a US Air Force officer said.
 
The missing aircraft was operated by Supreme Global Services Solutions, according to NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).
 
The helicopter had been chartered by the Netherlands-based catering and logistics contractor from a firm called Airfreight Gulf, ISAF said. "Supreme/Airfreight will release the details about the event and the crew," said US Air Force spokesman David Faggard.