Foreign Ministry officials in Ecuador said they regretted the incident and apologized "accidentally entering Colombian airspace," El Tiempo newspaper reported online Monday.

The Ecuadorian helicopter was intercepted by two Colombian aircraft before returning to its own airspace

Relations between Ecuador and Colombia have been tense since March 1, when Colombian forces entered Ecuador without permission to kill rebel commander Raul Reyes and more than two dozen members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.

That incident triggered a diplomatic firestorm that prompted both Ecuador and Venezuela to temporarily sever diplomatic relations with Colombian and send troops to their borders.