Story Published:
Feb 8, 2007 at 9:31 AM PST
RICHLAND -- Mourning the loss of a local Marine killed in war. Travis Pfister died Wednesday when his helicopter crashed near Baghdad.
An al-Qaida-linked group is claiming responsibility for shooting down the chopper.
This is the military's 5th copter crash in Iraq in less than three weeks.
U.S. military authorities are investigating. Officials at first suspected a mechanical problem, but CBS news has learned that the CH 46 got shot down during "routine operations".
Pfister grew up in Richland and graduated from Hanford High School in 1997.
He died alongside six other Marines in the crash.