U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawai'i, just back from a trip to Iraq, said a missile or missiles were fired at a C-130 transport he and five other members of Congress were aboard, underscoring for the delegation the risk faced by U.S. air crews in the country.

News of the targeting comes as the Pentagon examines three fatal helicopter crashes in Iraq in two weeks — the latest of which, on Monday, killed an Army pilot who lived in Hawai'i at one time and still had family here.

ABC News said a Russian-made shoulder-fired missile may have been used to down the AH-64 Apache helicopter north of Baghdad. Chief Warrant Officer Ruel M. Garcia, 34, was identified by family on O'ahu as one of two crew members killed.

Pentagon spokesman Lawrence Di Rita questioned whether there is a "new threat out there that we need to be more aware of" after the crashes, which killed 12 U.S. service members and four civilians, according to a story from the Department of Defense news service.

Abercrombie was on a trip to Iraq on Jan. 10 and 11 that included visits to Camp Victory in Baghdad and to Mosul in the north.

During a night flight, the crew of the Michigan Air National Guard C-130 carrying the delegation detected a missile lock-on, fired flares to disrupt targeting and engaged in defensive maneuvers, he said.

There was no explosion or damage to the four-engine propeller aircraft, and it landed safely. Abercrombie said he confirmed what had happened with the plane's crew.

"Missiles were fired, and it was handled, let me put it that way," he said, declining to say where the missile attack occurred. " ... That country is dangerous and militarily precarious, up to and including actually being able to go there, and members of Congress are not exempt from it."

The six-member delegation spent Jan. 10 at Camp Victory near Baghdad International Airport, and the next day in Mosul. Each night the delegates, who wore body armor and helmets, flew to Kuwait.

The bipartisan group also included U.S. Reps. Robert Simmons, R-Conn.; Jeb Bradley, R-N.H.; John Spratt, D-S.C.; Chris Chocola, R-Ind.; and Gresham Barrett, R-S.C.

Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com.