COMPLETE COVERAGE | FRONT LINES | AMERICA AT HOME | INTERACTIVES »

16 soldiers hurt in U.S. Army helicopter accident

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (CNN) -- The U.S. military Tuesday was investigating the "hard landing" of a U.S. Army CH-47 "Chinook" transport helicopter -- "extensively damaged" a day earlier in eastern Afghanistan -- to see if it can be salvaged.

According to U.S. military officials at Kandahar airport, the helicopter went down under brown-out conditions -- where debris kicked up by the aircraft's rotors darkens the sky, obscuring the landing site. Because of the dust and uneven terrain, the front strut of the CH-47 went into a depression and flipped onto its side, said U.S. Army spokesman Maj. A. C. Roper.

The cause of the incident is still under investigation, Roper said. However, a preliminary report showed no hostile actions were involved in bringing the aircraft down.

Sixteen soldiers from the 101st Airborne division were injured in the incident south of Bagram, Afghanistan. A total of 24 military personnel were aboard the chopper and everyone was rescued by other military members in helicopters involved in the same mission, officials said.

According to Roper, all the injured soldiers were in good to stable condition and were receiving medical treatment inside Afghanistan and were expected to eventually return to duty.

U.S. Central Command said four of the injuries are serious but not life-threatening and consist of hip and leg injuries. The others were classified as minor injuries with broken bones, cuts and abrasions.

Central Command said the helicopter was on a tactical mission with the flight originating from Kandahar.

There has been no decision to recover the helicopter, Central Command said. The accident happened at approximately 11:30 p.m. (2 p.m. EST Monday).

-- CNN Military Affairs Correspondent Jamie McIntyre and CNN's Martin Savidge contributed to this report.