News In Brief

Investigation of helicopter shooting incident begun

The United States Army said Saturday it may take days to determine whether a US helicopter with two men aboard strayed into Czechoslovakian airspace before Soviet-built warplanes reportedly fired at it and missed.

Six West German civilians and two border police said Saturday they saw the Cobra helicopter fly into Czechoslovak airspace at least twice Friday afternoon before being escorted to the border by the Soviet-built aircraft.

Bavarian border police spokesman Klaus Papenfuss said the six witnesses were in West Germany at the time of the incident, but visibility was at least 12 miles because of excellent weather.