The governments in Caracas and Bogotá on Dec. 29 offered contradictory accounts of what led to the crash of a Venezuelan military helicopter that injured the pilot and co-pilot.

Colombian Defense Minister Luis Carlos Villegas said a technical glitch downed the Bell chopper belonging to Venezuela's National Guard, Tiempo reported. Venezuelan Foreign Minister Delcy Rodríguez, on the other hand, blamed the incident on adverse weather conditions.

The helicopter has been involved in a routine inspection along the border between the two South American neighbors when it fell about 10 yards to the ground, according to The Associated Press. The craft came down on the Colombian side of the La Guajira peninsula, South America's northernmost tip, after it started to spin around its own axis, Tiempo added based on witness reports.

"A (technical) glitch occurred, and the helicopter crashed few meters on this side of our border," Villegas noted.

In an apparent reference to recent tensions between Caracas and Bogotá that earlier this year led to the prolonged closure of border checkpoints between the Colombia and Venezuela, the minister assured Colombian citizens the foreign chopper had not posed a security threat at any point.

Rodríguez, meanwhile, ruled out a technical problem as she bemoaned the death of Venezuelan personnel.

"The helicopter of the (Bolivarian National Guard), with officers who were involved in recognizance efforts along our border posts, had an accident with grave injuries," the foreign minister said in a statement. "Adverse climatic conditions produced this regrettable accident."

The Venezuelan official also acknowledged Colombian rescue efforts. "We thank the Colombian authorities who are offering assistance to our officers," Rodríguez noted.

The incident comes just months after a Colombian helicopter carrying 16 police officers crashed during an anti-drug trafficking operation a remote jungle-covered region of the South American nation, Agence France-Presse reported.

In that case, the pilot had reported engine trouble before the Black Hawk helicopter, part of an operation against the powerful Clan Usuga drug gang in the northwestern Antioquía department, went down, AFP noted.