Islamist rebels in Syria have captured four crew members after a government helicopter crashed today . A fifth serviceman was killed after the aircraft went down in a rebel-held area of north-western Syria , near Jabal al-Zawiya in Idlib province . It experienced a technical malfunction and made an emergency crash-landing , according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights . Scroll down for video . 'Technical malfunction ' : People gather around a helicopter reportedly belonging to Syrian regime forces that crashed today in Jabal al-Zawiya . Syria 's state news agency confirmed that a helicopter had crashed after a mechanical problem and said the authorities were looking for the crew . The SOHR stated that opposition fighters , including from the Al Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front , had taken four crew members prisoner . Another airman survived the crash but was reportedly killed by his captors , and the fate of a suspected sixth airman is unknown , the Observatory said . SOHR head Rami Abdel Rahman said : ‘ A regime helicopter was forced to land in the region of Jabal al-Zawiya in the north-west , which is a bastion of ( Al-Qaeda 's Syrian affiliate ) Al-Nusra Front/ . ‘ Four of the crew were captured and a fifth man was killed by armed men in a neighbouring village. ’ Pictures provided by the Observatory showed groups of men gathering around a damaged helicopter lying on its side on a rocky hilltop . Mr Rahman said two of the servicemen were being held by Nusra Front , while the other two were captured by an unknown Islamist group . Gathered around : Islamist rebels captured four crew members when the helicopter crashed , the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said . An amateur video posted online showed rebels inspecting the wreckage of the helicopter , which had rolled on to its side on a rocky hill . The aircraft 's blue undercarriage was partially torn and the nose badly damaged . Photographs posted by activists online showed the same crash site and at least two airmen in rebel custody . The United Nations claims the Syrian air force uses helicopters extensively to drop barrel bombs in indiscriminate attacks on residential areas . The improvised munitions are giant canisters packed with hundreds of pounds of explosives and scrap metal . However , Syrian President Bashar al-Assad denied in a BBC interview last February that his forces used barrel bombs .
Fifth serviceman killed after aircraft went down in rebel-held area of north-western Syria , near Jabal al-Zawiya . Technical malfunction saw it make emergency crash-landing , according to Observatory . Syria 's state news agency confirmed helicopter crash today and said authorities are now looking for the crew .