extortion 17 crash photos10 marca 2023
Nichols had deployed three times to combat zones, and Carter, with more than 4,000 hours of flight time, was one of the most experienced helicopter pilots in the U.S. military. God bless all of them- the bravest of the brave. Now deep in the Tangi Valley, their night vision goggles showing the world around them in greenish hues, the IRF team members readied to hit the ground running as the pilots slowed Extortion 17 and descended toward the village. The forward rotor system then tore off, stressed by the imbalance and the strain of carrying what would normally be a shared load. The Museum Executive Team worked with these men. First, the Obama administration's Defense Department's crash report stated that there were no eyes in the sky over the Chinook . But why? Lees wife, Christy, hoped the news would bring a sudden end to the war. ], Four years after the downing of Extortion 17, there were many theories about a possible government coverup. The crash is referred to as Extortion 17 by the callsign of the CH-47 Chinook helicopter involved in the crash. Neither did the risk he and his pilots faced every night. There are more operations than can be supported by the 160th at any given time, says Major Matthew Brady, a former 160th pilot and company commander. All 38 passengers aboard Extortion 17, including 30 U.S. military personnel, eight Afghans and a U.S. military working dog, were killed after the transport helicopter was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade. To lose even one precious life is too many, and the United States lost 38 soldiers that day. On 6 August 2011, a U.S. CH-47D Chinook military helicopter operating with the call sign Extortion 17 (pronounced "one-seven") was shot down while transporting a Quick Reaction Force attempting to reinforce a Joint Special Operations Command unit of the 75th Ranger Regiment in the Tangi Valley in Maidan Wardak province, southwest of Kabul, Afghanistan. A Black Hawk Down of the war in Afghanistan, the deadliest day for the U.S. in 12 years of that conflictand a military investigation that covered up evidence of an inside job by the Taliban. Ryan Last. Three hours after disembarking from the Chinooks, the assault force had secured the compound and detained a number of Tahirs men, but they hadnt found Tahir himself. The military has worked diligently to more tightly integrate gunship escorts with transport craft, according to Brady. [39], Following the withdrawal of U.S. forces in April 2011, Tangi valley became a major staging area for attacks on Kabul (located just 60 miles away). They may have seen Extortion 17 and its landing zone through their own night vision goggles or simply aimed by sound alone. Some 30 seconds later, one of the AH-64 Apache helicopters in the area reported: Fallen Angel.. Or when something went terribly wrong. No evidence has emerged to support any of these claims. Ninty-six days after the death of Osama bin Laden by SEAL Team Six, an old Vietnam era Army Reserve helicopter, call sign "Extortion 17," was shot down in the Wardak Province, Tangi River Valley, Afghanistan on Aug 6, 2011. The crash killed all 38 people on board including 25 American special operations personnel, five United States Army National Guard and Army Reserve crewmen, seven Afghan commandos, one Afghan interpreter, and a U.S. military working dog. By June 5, 2022 Posted by: Category: Uncategorized; No Comments . I will never forget what they did, he said. The helicopter crashed into a creek bed and a flash flood shortly afterward washed away some parts of the wreckage. The circumstances surrounding the events of Extortion 17 are tragic. The helicopter fell from the sky, killing all 38 on board. unfolded that night are commonly referred to as Extortion 17, which is the call sign for the helicopter transporting the special op-erations personnel. The workhorse in Army aviation, the tandem rotor, heavy-lift Chinook helicopter is used for carrying troops, equipment, supplies and even the mail. Were asking people to do incredible things. Its crazy how many times I can think of where me or the guys I was with had to do that.. See more ideas about extortion, navy seals, seal team 6. This was preventable only if they just had not taken off that night, Lee said. The Chinook is often used to assist in disaster relief, delivering food and water after earthquakes and floods. A few minutes past 2 a.m.on August 6, 2011, at a dusty forward operating base40 miles south of Kabul, Afghanistan, the rotors of two U.S. Army CH-47D Chinooks began to turn. Where was the Chinook's black box cockpit recorder? There's also that little issue that came up when 6 Navy SEALs' funerals were conducted by a Muslim Cleric that condemned them to Hell during the service. A hearing was set to get answers to questions surrounding the high-profile shoot-down of an American helicopter in Afghanistan and how the remains of the fallen service members were handled. Lee earned his wings at Fort Rucker, Ala., then deployed to Pakistan, where he did humanitarian missions, learning to fly into and out of mountainous terrain. [35] The Seattle Times and The New York Times also reported this information. So if there was a added black box installed on this Aircraft there should be a maintenance record? Explore. In fact, the conflict was heating up. These are the words of Billy Vaughn. That assault team captured Tahirs compound and some of his men. Extortion 17 and 16 weren't MH-47s and their crews were not Night Stalkers. Registration on or use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Service. In that incident, sixteen Navy SEALs and Army special operations troops were killed, and three more SEALs were killed in subsequent fighting on the ground. Extortion 17 is a name etched in our minds as one of the worst losses our military has ever experienced. Restrained by strict rules of engagement in force at the time, the helicopter crews could not have fired without a strong indication of hostile intent. In this week in military history, we explore the aerial attack on a U.S. Army helicopter with the call sign "Extortion 17" in Afghanistan on August 6, 2011. In June 2005, a rocket-propelled grenade connected with the rear transmission of a 160th MH-47E Chinook as it attempted to come to a hover, downing it; all 16 on board were killed. Landing in deserts or mountainsides, the helicopter rotors kick up clouds of sand and dust, causing brownouts that can blind a pilot. And why was the fire control officer of the AC-130 Gunship flying above denied permission . [11], The 30 American deaths represent the greatest loss of U.S. military lives in a single incident in the war in Afghanistan that began in 2001. So much of the war is fought in areas where these helicopters have to fly at high altitudes, where the thin air can strain the performance of the engines and rotor blades, said Ed Darack, author of the recently published book, The Final Mission of Extortion 17: Special Ops, Helicopter Support, SEAL Team Six and the Deadliest Day of the U.S. War in Afghanistan. According to Glover, improved systems in place enable U.S. forces to monitor a target for days or even weeks prior to an operation, so they theoretically will know of even well-hidden potential RPG shooters throughout a village before transport helicopters first touch down. Having studied and directly observed the counter-insurgency campaign in Afghanistan, Ive watched commanders and individual American troops consistently lean far to the side of restraint to encourage Afghans to side with American interests long after U.S. forces have left. Approaching to land or having just taken off, the craft is flying slow and low, so it presents a tempting target. The extreme G-forces killed everyone on board within a fraction of a second, Darack said. 3 U.S. Army Reserve personnel from the 7th Battalion, 158th Aviation Regiment. As two U.S. Army AH-64 Apache attack helicopters, an Air Force AC-130 gunship, and a small fleet of unmanned surveillance aircraft orbited overhead, a platoon of the 75th Ranger Regiment and members of an Afghan special operations unit stormed down the rear ramps of the Chinooks and into the night. [1][5][6][7][8] At 30 American military personnel killed, the shootdown of Extortion 17 represents the greatest single-incident loss of American lives in Operation Enduring Freedom Afghanistan, surpassing the 16 lost in the downing of Turbine 33, a 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne) MH-47 helicopter, during Operation Red Wings on 28 June 2005.[2]. To remove the risk of rocket-propelled grenades downing helicopters in Afghanistan 100 percent, youd have to remove the opposable thumbs of every fighting-age male in the objective area, and thats not how we win a counter-insurgency., Ed Darack 2 U.S. Army personnel from the 2nd Battalion, 135th Aviation Regiment, part of the Colorado Army National Guard, PO1 John Douangdara & Navy SEAL Dog Bart, Of the 22 NSW members killed, 17 were SEALs, and five were direct support personnel, according to the source in the NSW community. At 10:58 p.m., they were inserted by the same CH-47D helicopters that would later conduct the mission to insert the SEAL team. As the operation got underway, our airborne Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) platforms, including an MQ-9 Predator, detected a group evading the Rangers, moving towards the north. About a dozen of the 33 troops in the back of the helicopter suffered broken bones, heavy bruises and scrapes. He said, "And now, to our honor roll of American Service Personnel killed in the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts. So many unsettling details are coalescing with the resurgence of Extortion 17. The SEALs who assaulted Osama bin Ladens compound were drawn from Naval Special Warfare Development Groups Red Squadron, according to several sources in the special operations community.. A typical combat mission in Afghanistan leaves little margin for error, requiring Chinook pilots to land on tiny, makeshift sites on mountain slopes where any tree, bush or rock could be hiding an enemy fighter with a rocket-propelled grenade launcher. It requires the highest level of skills from the pilots because they are some of the most dangerous operations.. Director Franois Garcia Writer Sandeep Panesar Stars Robert O'Neill (archive footage) Patricia Economo Enrique Garcia In order to prevent this, American forces called in for support. The official statement from U.S. Central Command stated that a Taliban fighter scored a lucky shot with a rocket-propelled grenade. At 2:36 a.m., Extortion 17 requested an infrared spotlight, visible only through night vision goggles, to illuminate the landing zone. His father Billy Vaughn recounted Thursday a phone call from his son following the White House . A junior, he was ready to fight, but the war would be over, he figured, before he even got out of college. The shooters origin remains a mystery. But the CH-47D has neither a flight nor voice recorder, only an engine performance data recorder for maintenance. Daniel L. Zerbe, 28, of York, Pennsylvania. The suspicious August 6th, 2011, CH47-D Chinook helicopter crash in Wardak Province, Afghanistan which claimed the lives of 38 American military personnel. Lee heard the call, and he knew what it meant. It is considered the worst loss of American lives in a single incident in the Afghanistan campaign, surpassing Operation Red Wings in 2005. Justin Buddy Lee will never forget that night six years ago. Baseless Claim That Biden Ordered 'Extortion 17' Three months after the raid that killed bin Laden, Taliban fighters shot down a Chinook helicopter carrying 30 U.S. service members, including. At 02:15, one group of three Taliban fighters took a position in a stand of trees; the remaining six or seven men entered a building located some 2km (1.2mi) from the target compound. Commanders frequently request CH-47 Chinooks to insert troops. The team boarded Extortion 17 with Dave Carter and Bryan Nichols at the controls. Spencer C. Duncan, 21, of Olathe, Kan. In combat, its mission is to transport large teams of elite assault troops, including Army Rangers and Navy SEALs, to and from the battlefield. The co-pilot, Bryan Nichols, was one of Lees closest friends in the Chinook company. In a new book The Final Mission of Extortion 17 published by Smithsonian Books, journalist and photographer Ed Darack revisits the shootdown of Extortion 17, a Chinook bearing U.S. and . On his first deployment, he felt fortunate to be surrounded by veteran pilots he could learn from. Save up to 30% when you upgrade to an image pack. American signals intelligence aircraft intercepted these transmissions and subsequently tracked the individual and his accomplice. Available for both RF and RM licensing. 1h 33m "A U.S. Army helicopter carrying 30 Americans, most members of the elite Navy SEAL Team 6 is shot down in Afghanistan. Today. Alexander J. Bennett, 24, of Tacoma, Wash. All rights reserved. In the afternoon of 6 August, a flash flood swept through the area, washing away parts of the wreckage. [11] Seventeen U.S. Navy SEALs remained in reserve at the forward operating base. At any moment, they could come under rocket attack. Planners then chose a new landing zone for the IRF, but it was large enough to accommodate only one Chinook. Extortion 17 was attached to a mission to capture or kill a senior Taliban leader, Qari Tahir, near Kabul, Afghanistan. And I condemn anyone who would dare denigrate the flag of the greatest country in the world which is made so by the heroic actions of these great men. And to this day, people are still debating what really happened. It would never return. BUT the Chief Command and those who elected him will pay for there failure to seek Yahwahs guidance before going to war or to vote for a new president! AC-130 gunships orbiting overhead directed two AH-64 Apache attack helicopters to fire on and kill five enemy fighters. The 30 American Servicemen killed in action (KIA) with the downing of Extortion 17. As Extortion 17 moved into final approach of the target area at 0238 local time, the Rangers on the ground watched in horror as it took a direct hit from an RPG (rocket-propelled grenade). The SEAL Team 6 community was devastated. In less than five seconds, the helicopter crashed, killing all occupants, and approximately 30 seconds later, one of the AH-64 Apache helicopters radioed in the crash. Thirty Americans perished in the blink of an eye, half of which comprised an entire 'troop' from SEAL Team 6's Gold Squadron. His account of the brave pilots, crew, and passengers of Extortion 17 and . I am so proud to be an American and I thank all of the families left behind to mourn their loss. Two fired at roughly the same time. Also if an Afghan soldier member of this team opened fire on this seal team then way was all the bodies Cremated and evidence destroyed?? The helicopter made its last radio transmission stating that it was one minute away from the landing zone, then descended to an altitude of 100150ft (3046m) and slowed to a speed of 50kn (58mph; 93km/h) as it approached the landing zone. "The downing of Extortion 17 was a catastrophic and unprecedented tragedy for our nation," Reid testified. There are a lot of bullets out there that say To whom it may concern,says Major Doug Glover, a U.S. Marine F/A-18D weapons and sensors operator who was a senior watch officer for the Marine air operations center in southern Afghanistan. [39], During the same Pentagon news conference in which he announced that the F-16 airstrike had incapacitated "less than 10" of the insurgents involved, International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) commander in Afghanistan John R. Allen said that the military investigation would also review whether small-arms fire or other causes might have contributed to the downing. Its like taking a paper towel roll, cutting it in half and strapping it to your eye, Lee said. Through sensors on manned and unmanned aircraft, U.S. forces observing the mud walls and terraces of the village saw new groups of fighters gathering and maneuvering. The first round sailed past the helicopter. Missions like this one to insert or remove an assault force are the military equivalent of a perfect 10 in the Olympics equal parts skill, experience and daring. In The Final Mission of Extortion 17, Ed Darack debunks this theory and others and uncovers the truth behind this mysterious tragedy. American intelligence officials identified this individual as "OBJECTIVE GINOSA." Sgt. As for himself, he speaks out about Extortion 17 because he wants to remember the men on that mission. He is the founder of Darack Research, a company that innovates unmanned systems, which grew out of his July 2014 Air & Space article Build Your Own Drone. Several minutes later, a 20-man Pathfinder team (specializing in downed-aircraft rescue and recovery) arrived at the site. Operating with no lights save for the faint green glow of night vision goggles and cockpit instrument panels, the two helicopters, call signs Extortion 17 (one-seven) and Extortion 16, lifted into the darkness and accelerated toward a destination less than 20 miles west. Connor Mendez, courtesy of U.S. Army. You never want to use the same landing zone twice, Darack said. The landing zone was small, and the commanders didnt want to split up the strike force. On August 6th, 2011, the helicopter was fired upon and shot down by a previously undetected group of Taliban fighters. Ranger assault helicopters had already engaged the enemy and killed six of eight Taliban fighters, causing the other two to retreat. Im a 25 year veteran involved in many support missions and I find this downing of Ext 17 very suspect indeed! Faced with the possibility of confronting nine or 10 Taliban fighters, planners increased the reinforcement team from 17 to 32 men, formed around the 15-man SEAL group. Six weeks later, at around 10:40 p.m., an assault team of Army Rangers and Afghan special operations forces were dropped into an LZ on a mission to capture or kill a Taliban commander named Qari Tahir, who had been responsible for a series of attacks and ambushes in the Tangi Valley, not far from Shank. #neverforgotten #screwedbygovt #demmandanswers. That's the only route, so they took positions on either side of the valley on mountains and as the helicopter approached, they attacked it with rockets and other modern weapons. As he did, he felt the craft leveling off. Captain Marquez claims that had the AC-130 been allowed to fire on the remaining enemy insurgents, Extortion 17 would not have been shot down. On Aug. 6, 2011, insurgent forces in Afghanistan shot down an American aircraft. He said: "They wanted to attack our Mujahideen who were in a house, but our Mujahideen resisted and destroyed a helicopter with a rocket-propelled grenade. Its a math problem. extortion 17 crash photos. That June, the U.S. military launched Operation Hammer Down to drive out insurgents entrenched in remote strongholds of eastern Afghanistan. According to officials, the team included 17 SEALs, five Navy special operations troops who support the SEALs, three Air Force airmen, a five-member Army air crew and a military dog, along with. On such missions, the Chinook pilots nearly always fly at night, wearing night vision goggles, or NVGs. Sgt. This remains the greatest single loss of life to Naval Special Warfare since the Afghan War started in 2001. Some news stories reported that investigators couldnt find the helicopters black box, referring to the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder. While classification veils the specifics of these tactics, particularly for special operations raids, manned gunships can detect potential threats through a range of sensors and immediately attack if needed. Find the perfect extortion17 stock photo, image, vector, illustration or 360 image. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 135th Aviation Regiment (General Support Aviation Battalion), Aurora, Colorado, Chief Warrant Officer Bryan J. Nichols, 31, of Hays, Kan. To reach the crash site, one must wind slowly through the ancient, narrow streets of the villages of Logar to reach the Tangi Valley in Wardak. Commentdocument.getElementById("comment").setAttribute( "id", "a62b75e7a99f5de39e28d378788f7ec9" );document.getElementById("c08a1a06c7").setAttribute( "id", "comment" ); Content on this website is free to use and share, but please provide a link back to Spec Ops Magazine as a source. Our area of operation was the entire country of Iraq, and every mission was at night, says David Pat Gates, a pilot with Carters unit , the 2nd Battalion, 135th Aviation Regiment (2-135th), a Colorado Army National Guard unit based in Aurora, Colorado. It was the deadliest helicopter crash in the history of U.S. special operations. There remained many mysteries about the Extortion 17 shoot down. The call sign for the Chinook was Extortion 17. Around 2:40 a.m., an Apache pilot flying in support came on the radio and shouted: Fallen Angel. The remaining two fighters ducked into a stand of trees and disappeared from the Apaches infrared scanners. But even a precisely aimed shot fired from an unguided weapon by a seasoned fighter is subject to the ballistics-altering whims of atmospheric variation, subtle and undetected flaws in launcher or projectile, and uncontrollable environmental factors such as wind gusts, large temperature variations, or even particulates in the air. Monday, 06 August 2012, marks one year since the tragic downing of EXTORTION 17 in Tangi, Afghanistan. August 6, 2017 marks the 6 year anniversary of the downing of Extortion 17, a bigger scandal than Benghazi in large part due to the fact that America lost 30 of its military personnel, including 17 Navy SEALs, the largest loss of life in the Afghan war. At that moment, Extortion 17 slowed to 58 mph, at no more than 150 feet, approaching a spot framed by trees and mud-brick huts, and "sparkled" by the infrared designator on an AC-130 gunship. The group fired 2-3 RPG rounds from a two-story building from a location some 220 meters south of the helicopter. However, the Afghan government forces did not occupy the base, which was seized by the Taliban shortly after the departure of American forces. Air Force C-17 Crashes Just After Takeoff in Alaska | Dangerous Aerobatics (With Real Video) TheFlightChannel 2.1M views 1 year ago Feature History - Chinese Civil War Feature History 1.9M views. Because unarmed villagers, unaffiliated with the Taliban, could also have been in those trees and among the groups milling about the village, the gunships could not have fired. Pinterest. At the time of the Juy Zarin raid, the battalion had been flying in Afghanistan for about two weeks. The conspiracy theories didnt bother Lee at first. On this night, Aug. 6, 2011, something went terribly wrong. Near the site of the Extortion 17 crash stands a memorial to Taliban fighters killed in the August 2011 battle during which Extortion 17 was shot down. To find answers to many of the outstanding questions regarding Extortion 17, a congressional oversight committee held a hearing on February 27, 2014. Photo by Sgt. Extortion 17 BRIAN BILL FOUNDATION 31 MILE RUCK FOR THE 31 HEROES OF EXTORTION 17 IN WASHINGTON, DC AUGUST 3, 2019 On 6 August 2011, a U.S. Boeing CH-47 Chinook military helicopter was shot down while transporting a quick reaction force attempting to reinforce an engaged unit of Army Rangers in Wardak province, west of Kabul, Afghanistan. We didnt do fast-rope inserts, building insertions, or anything like that. Subsequent to their Iraq deployment, the unit flew the SEALs of Team 6 on practice raids around Fort Carson, Colorado, and during nighttime urban training in Denver, further cementing the 2-135ths reputation with special operations units. The military's public contradictions raise more questions than answers. He was assigned to the 7th Battalion, 158th Aviation Regiment (General Support Aviation Battalion), New Century, Kansas, Spc. As is routine on such missions, two Apache attack helicopters provided extra cover and security for Extortion 17, while circling above was an AC-130 aircraft, a gunship that also provides surveillance. The downing of Extortion 17 spurred a number of conspiracy theories, such as the idea that the shootdown was revenge for bin Laden's death. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) The downing of a Chinook helicopter gunship (known by its call sign Extortion 17) in Afghanistan on August 6, 2011, has for years been shrouded in mystery, with the . Their deaths are the greatest single loss of life ever suffered by the U.S. Special Operations community in the 24-year history of the U.S. Special Operations Command.[5][22][15][23].
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