Prince Harry volunteers as helicopter pilot

LONDON (Reuters) - Prince Harry has chosen to follow in the footsteps of his older brother and train to become a helicopter pilot, the royal family said on Monday.

Harry, 24, has volunteered to join the Army Air Corps (AAC) as the next step in his military career.

It echoes a decision made by his brother Prince William who announced last month that he was to train to become a full-time pilot flying Sea King helicopters for the Royal Air Force's search and rescue force.

"Prince Harry has chosen to seek selection with the AAC now because he has completed his tour of duty as a Troop Leader with the Household Cavalry Regiment at Windsor," Clarence House, the office of his father Prince Charles, said in a statement.

"Such a move is quite common for young officers at this stage in their army career."

The statement said Harry, who holds the rank of lieutenant, would attend a selection process next month to see if he could join on a course to become an operational pilot.

If successful the prince, who has already passed an initial pilot aptitude test, would then start full training in January and, once qualified, would be posted to an AAC regiment on an attachment from the Household Cavalry.

Harry served on the frontline in Afghanistan earlier this year but was flown home in February after just 10 weeks when a media blackout collapsed.

He had secretly been flown to the southern Afghan province of Helmand in mid-December 2007 to work as a forward air controller, calling in air strikes and informing pilots of where their targets were.