The shadow of a Black Hawk helicopter. File photoMEXICO CITY, Jul 20 The Mexican Navy's Black Hawk helicopter crash in the west of the country, killing 14 Marines, was due to running out of fuel in flight, Milenio reports. «The Navy Ministry helicopter that crashed in the municipality of Los Mochis in the state of Sinaloa during an operation to apprehend drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero <…>, crashed due to running out of fuel,» — the text on the publication's website says, citing sources close to the investigation. Black Hawk, transporting soldiers, fell on a rural football field on Friday after the completion of the operation to capture the former leader of the Guadalajara cartel. There were 15 people on board the ship, one of them survived and was hospitalized with serious injuries. Milenio sources denied the version that the helicopter was shot down by criminals after the drug lord was detained, since there are no places suitable for an ambush in the crash area. In addition, no signs of burning were found at the crash site. The Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk is a twin-engine multi-purpose helicopter of the American company Sikorsky Aircraft. Since the 1990s, the army and police in Mexico have ordered several dozen of these machines.
