The families of some of the 17 SEAL Team 6 commandos who were killed in an ambush in Afghanistan during a helicopter flight to help Army Rangers pinned down by Taliban gunmen accused the Obama administration of deliberately endangering their loved ones for political ends. 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. Portraits of Navy SEALs killed in helicopter crash | Fox News But the Team Six connection makes it a major symbolic victory for them. They stayed fixed on enemy squirters, or runners, until just a few minutes before landing. The crash took the lives of 17 SEALs and five special warfare development group operators, making it the worst one-day loss in the history of U.S. naval special operations. Joe Pappalardo is a contributing writer at Popular Mechanics and author of the new book, Spaceport Earth: The Reinvention of Spaceflight. The team began intense training for the operation, which included practicing in a life-sized replica of the compound. The loss of a Chinook helicopter carrying members of Navy SEAL Team Six made yesterday the deadliest single day in the entire Afghan War for the U.S., The New York Times reports. Enterprise writer at The Dallas Morning News. I will never forget what they did, he said. Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? The conspiracy theories didnt bother Lee at first. Conspiracy theories started almost immediately. [PHOTOS:Fighting in Afghanistan Continues]. In combat, its mission is to transport large teams of elite assault troops, including Army Rangers and Navy SEALs, to and from the battlefield. Lee remained in Afghanistan flying combat missions for another eight months before returning home in the spring of 2012. AP sources: Crash kills members of SEAL Team 6 Nobody involved had overlooked even the most minute detail. Lee, now a captain, was placed in command of a Chinook helicopter unit at Forward Operating Base Shank. MARTHA RADDATZ, LUIS MARTINEZ and MIKE BOETTCHER, helicopter was shot down today by Afghan insurgents, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. Despite the risk, operations like these were taking place with such frequency in Afghanistan they only made news when they produced a spectacular success, like the bin Laden mission. U.S. officials tell The Associated Press that they believe that . It means being informed. A CH-47D Chinook helicopter lands at a small landing zone at Firebase Blessing, in eastern Afghanistans restive Kunar Province at the start of a combat operation. Its planners and pilots must use whatever intelligence is available (which is usually pretty thin information, and comes from earlier attacks) to plan the flight route. In fact, Chinooks are better protected from newer, more sophisticated threats than from older, more crude ones. Some of those Seals were members of Seal Team 6 that took part in the raid that killed Osama Bin Laden, the AP reported today; although they were not actual participants in the Pakistan raid, according to the New York Times. The extreme G-forces killed everyone on board within a fraction of a second, Darack said. "We simply didn't know those guys with those RPGs were there," he said. "Their deaths are a reminder of the extraordinary sacrifices made by the men and women of our military and their families, including all who have served in Afghanistan,'' President Obama said Saturday. During a press conference on Washington Thursday, family and advocates for the fallen troops called into question the rules of engagement that they say prohibited their sons from being able to return fire, and the White House's decision to announce shortly after the killing of Osama bin Laden that SEAL Team 6 was responsible for the raid. The operation to kill the world's most wanted terrorist was the result of years of planning and training. What the men on the Chinook didn't know was that cloaked by darkness, two fighters had emerged from the small village of Hasan Khel, on the south side of the valley. This was preventable only if they just had not taken off that night, Lee said. A US helicopter crashed in Afghanistan yesterday killing 31 special operation troops, most of them from the elite Navy Seals unit that killed Osama bin Laden. No one is planting victory gardens, and were not rationing. His father Billy Vaughn recounted Thursday a phone call from his son following the White House decision to credit the highly secretive military unit for the bin Laden raid. What went so terribly wrong? With Robert O'Neill, Patricia Economo, Enrique Garcia, James Obrien. Special forces routinely use helicopters in raids on homes in Afghanistan. This story has been corrected to reflect that only some of the families of the fallen SEALs say their loved ones were deliberately endangered. On board were 22 members of the elite Seal Team Six, two U.S. Air Force Para-rescue men, three Army reserve personnel, a U.S. Air Force Combat Controller, the pilot and co-pilot, a U.S . There are no survivors. Just after entering the Tangi, as Extortion 17 continued to descend and decelerate toward its landing zone, the helicopter passed through the narrowest portion of the valley. It's a scary thought. Hes also sent more than his fair share of curious retweets, often of the accounts of conspiracy theorists and those associated with QAnon and other outlandish conspiracy frameworks. Its lawyers have told the judge that the process of locating relevant documents and removing classified information takes time. 4:05 p.m. - The first helicopter exits the compound. Get everything off your social media. The families of some of the 17 SEAL Team 6 commandos who were killed in an ambush in Afghanistan during a helicopter flight to help Army Rangers pinned down by Taliban gunmen accused the. And you know, never before in the history of our county (had) a sitting president released that type of information to the public, especially when he was talking about special forces. The family members, speaking at the National Press Club, tried to reopen the book on the crash, in which 30 Americans were killed, most of them belonging to the same unit as those who carried out the raid on Usama bin Laden earlier that year. All of us know that going into it.". Follow him on Twitter at @StephenSilver. The Chinook was descending on a noisy battlefield where Apache helicopters and a C-130 gunship had been buzzing overhead for three hours, alerting Taliban fighters. The next day, a DNA test confirmed that the body was indeed that of Osama bin Laden. Family members are hoping Freedom Watch, a watchdog legal group led by Larry Klayman, can force new disclosures using the power of the FOIA process. Special forces are very selective on who they partner with, but any collaboration with Afghans opens up U.S. Just last week the Afghans arrested an Army officer for aiding Taliban suicide bombers through checkpoints, and doing so under employ by Pakistan. The chopper's manifest. That left it to .css-3wjtm9{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-decoration-thickness:0.125rem;text-decoration-color:#1c6a65;text-underline-offset:0.25rem;color:inherit;-webkit-transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;}.css-3wjtm9:hover{color:#595959;text-decoration-color:border-link-body-hover;}Navy SEALs to undertake a dangerous raid in a notorious insurgent area to stem the Taliban's advance. Add in the fact that more sophisticated foreign intelligence agents are on the ground, with signals intelligence assets and deep pockets, and you have a recipe for a plot. And they sent our guys right into the middle.. He has written about soldiers returning home from war and the mental health crisis facing young people. The Graveyard of Empires: Directed by David Boreanaz. Several Afghans were on board and were killed, but trust is in short supply in Afghanistan. Petty Officer 1st Class Aaron Vaughn was one of the SEAL Team 6 operators who died in the crash. Aug. 6, 2011 -- A helicopter was shot down today by Afghan insurgents as it was rushing to aid troops in a firefight, killing 30 Americans, including 22 Navy SEALs, most of whom belonged to Team 6, the unit whose members were involved in the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, U.S. officials said. Its like taking a paper towel roll, cutting it in half and strapping it to your eye, Lee said. In all 38 troops died after the helicopter was shot down by what a review determined to be a Taliban RPG over Wardak Province, Afghanistan, on Aug. 6, 2011. At that time, this marked deadliest moment in the war in Afghanistan. But it's often foreign to those who observe combat from afar. I would say that on the three-minute call is when Gun 2 started looking at the LZ, giving an LZ brief op. House panel probing chopper crash that killed SEAL Team 6 members On April 29, 2011, President Barack Obama authorized a small special operations team, known as SEAL Team Six, to carry out a raid on the compound. Aaron Vaughn's mother, Karen, also demanded an explanation for why her son and his team were not using a special operations aircraft, such as the Chinooks flown by special operations pilots, which have specialized defenses designed to fly commandos deep behind enemy lines. But why? Guys on the bush line. Mills, a 13-year veteran of the military . I mean, at any time if we would have found these squirters, or they would have found weapons, we were the way I was understanding it, we were going to be clear to engage due to the fact that they had weapons, but we had to [positively identify] them first., He added: So we hadnt started looking at the LZ yet, just due to there was so much more of a threat to the east with the squirters. Planners selected a landing zone that had never been used before. A catastrophic crash seemed unavoidable. Almost 10 years after 9/11, here's what led to the death of Osama bin Laden. I find it very irritating that we will not question the Afghans about their knowledge of what took place that night.. Originally published August 6, 2011 at 10:50 am Updated August 6, 2011 at 3:16 pm. Coincidence or not, any Chinook shoot-down is a coup for the Taliban. The night her son Aaron died, he was in a helicopter that was built in the 1960s and last retrofitted in 1985. On the fourth anniversary of the worst one-day loss of military life in the war on terror, families of the dead say they are aghast that the government will not honor basic requests under the Freedom of Information Act. Lees second deployment started in May of 2011. She had just given birth to their first child. You also want to come in from a different direction for the element of surprise.. See GlobalPost: Navy SEALs had "kill" order on Osama bin Laden, report claims. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, The helicopter was shot down by insurgents. He was probably in the top 1 percent of Army aviators, Lee said. There are more sophisticated threats out there, such as the SA-16. Everyone on board died within a fraction of a second30 Americans, eight Afghans and one American military working dog. The entire operation, which lasted only 40 minutes from start to finish, was the culmination of years of calculated planning and training. When asked what lessons Americans can draw from the crash of Extortion 17, Lees answer is simple: Americans should care about what happens in Afghanistan because theyve sent Americans to war there. Our families are in danger,' " Vaughn recalled. He knew the pilots and crew members aboard Extortion 17. Here are the . Intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft that supported the raid, including a Predator drone, and a variety of highly specialized spy planes, had kept continuous watch over the region during the operation. That assault team captured Tahirs compound and some of his men. That is why, they say, a fighter just happened to be stationed in a turret within 150 yards of a landing zone that had never been used before. About a dozen of the 33 troops in the back of the helicopter suffered broken bones, heavy bruises and scrapes. Families suspect SEAL Team 6 crash was inside job on worst day in To minimize the danger as much as possible, pilots will land Chinooks out of range of any weapons they know they enemy to have, and an Apache or a UAV will fly overhead to check for threats before the Chinooks drop off any soldiers. And to this day, people are still debating what really happened. Families of Navy SEALs killed in 2011 attack say government is to blame 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events. Hamburger added. Things like Benghazi and the NSA. The navigator on the AC-130 gunship said there was simply too much gun and engine noise to think that the Chinook could make an undetected entrance. It's certainly possible. As he did, he felt the craft leveling off. The "had Seal team 6 killed" is a likely reference to what's known as the "Extortion 17" incident, the August 2011 tragedy in which a Chinook military helicopter was shot down in Afghanistan,. 4:10 p.m. - A backup helicopter scoops up remaining team members and leaves the area. At that time, this marked deadliest moment in the war in Afghanistan. These materials provided much-needed intelligence about bin Ladens role within al-Qaeda and the organizations inner-workings. September-11-pentagon-attack-survivors-evacuation. For many families of 9/11 victims, bin Ladens death symbolized justice and retribution. SEAL Team Six Helicopter Crash: Let's Debunk a Myth. Hours earlier, pilots Carter and Nichols and crewmembers Specialist Spencer Duncan, Sergeant Pat Hamburger, and Sergeant Alex Bennett, along with pilots and crew of a sister Chinook, Extortion 16, inserted a strike force in the central Tangi Valley. the seal team 6 crash is just tying up loose ends for their crimes. List of operations conducted by SEAL Team Six - Wikipedia Is Russias Only Aircraft Carrier Cursed? The event was organized by Freedom Watch, a conservative advocacy group, at the National Press Club. On a moonless night, an Army Chinook helicopter swept low over the Tangi Valley, a strip of forbidding terrain in eastern Afghanistan teeming with Taliban and located just 35 miles south of the capital, Kabul. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. I find it quite disturbing that the government is not willing to give us the answers we deserve. The team was responding to an Army Ranger unit that was engaged in a protracted firefight with Taliban fighters and needed reinforcements. Fallen Angel: Call Sign - Extortion 17 (2021) - IMDb She also said the team was hindered by rules of engagement that prohibited their firing on potential targets unless they could see a weapon. Per factcheck.org, while Obama and his advisers were deliberating over which mission to authorize for attacking Bin Ladens compound, Biden advised the president to wait for further confirmation that bin Laden was actually in the compound in Pakistan before acting. Biden was not, as implied, altogether opposed to killing Bin Laden. As they made their approach, there was a line of thunderstorms nearby. President Trump has been known, over the years, to tweet some bizarre things. Ultimately, bin Laden was found and killed within nine minutes, and SEAL Team Six was credited with carrying out a nearly flawless mission. The had Seal team 6 killed is a likely reference to whats known as the Extortion 17 incident, the August 2011 tragedy in which a Chinookmilitary helicopter was shot down in Afghanistan, killing 38 people, 25 of them Navy Seals, in the deadliest day for the U.S. in the entire Afghanistan war. Mr. Klayman said the NSA has agreed to provide some information. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. The next night, the pair had orders to drop off more troops in the same spot. Fallen Angel.. they won't view it as wrong, just a "necessary" sacrifice for your country. The Associated Press is reporting that a rocket attack took down the Chinook (probably a MH-47) , quoting an unnamed source in Washington D.C., but this has yet to be confirmed officially. All Rights Reserved. It had been loaded well within its limits. We were told at that time we were the first unit to make it through a rotation without having anyone killed.. Winds whipped through the fir trees. No one saw two Taliban armed with grenade launchers standing on a mud-brick turret well within range of the descending chopper. The route had been carefully planned, and gunships maintained continuous watch over the intended landing zone during Extortion 17's approach. Sign up for The Top of the World, delivered to your inbox every weekday morning. That night, nearly 10 years after the U.S. had gone to war in Afghanistan, Lee believed they were the best team for this dangerous mission. But we are still sending people to another country to fight, and we need to understand why were doing that, he said. During an attempted reinforcement effort during Operation Red Wings on June 28, 2005, high on the slopes of a mountain called Sawtalo Sar in eastern Afghanistan's Kunar Province, a lucky shot took down an Army Special Operations Chinook, call sign "Turbine 33." Extortion 17's pilots and crew ranked among the very best military helicopter pilots in the world (Carter had amassed more than 4,000 hours of cockpit time), and the helicopter, a CH-47D, the fastest and one of the most powerful and nimble in the U.S. military, had been maintained to the highest standards. On a moonless night, an Army helicopter carrying 17 members of the elite Navy SEAL Team 6, the unit that killed Osama Bin Laden, is shot down in Afghanistan. or redistributed. Nothing tests the capabilities of a young helicopter pilot like flying in the extreme conditions of Afghanistan. And thats fine; thats what you signed up for, Lee said. The tempo of the missions did not decrease. August 6, 2011 / 6:08 PM / CBS Boston KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- A military helicopter was shot down in eastern Afghanistan, killing 31 U.S. special operation troops, most of them from the. The helicopter crashed into a creek bed and a flash flood shortly afterward washed away some parts of the wreckage. Aug. 7, 2011 -- American communities are mourning the loss of 30 U.S. troops who were killed when Afghan insurgents shot down a helicopter carrying the most elite forces in the US military -- Navy . While some of those who lost their lives that day were members of Seal Team 6, it was not the same platoon that had carried out the Bin Laden raid, and none of those killed in the crash had been a part of that event. Helicopter Crash in Afghanistan Reportedly Kills Members of SEAL Team 6 Neither did the risk he and his pilots faced every night. U.S. Central Commands official investigation concluded that a rocket-launched grenade from a Taliban fighter standing near the landing zone clipped a rotary wing, sending the Ch-47 Chinook into a violent downward spin. I would say that was the first time that we really had eyes on the LZ.. President Trump has also claimed, including in the first presidential debate, that Biden opposed the raid that took out Bin Laden. Finally Sells Japan Tomahawk Missiles. Following a helicopter crash, the SEAL Team must proceed with the mission as hostiles bear down on them and an injured and impaired Jason goes after their target alone. WASHINGTON - The families of Navy SEAL Team 6 members killed in a disastrous August 2011 helicopter crash in Afghanistan blamed the government for the tragedy, during an emotional press. The team boarded Extortion 17 with Dave Carter and Bryan Nichols at the controls. It was an auspicious day for the two enemy fighters. I was terrified. But the CH-47D has neither a flight nor voice recorder, only an engine performance data recorder for maintenance. One of the other things that we did talk about kind of what youre hitting on, sir, is about the fact that, you know, for three hours we had been burning holes in the sky, the officer told investigators. It launched in the belly of the aircraft which made a hard landing and only two soldiers were injured in that attack but this time all on board were killed. How SEAL Team Six Took Out Osama bin Laden - HISTORY However, the AP has reported, the Afghan forces never staffed the outpost after American forces left, and the Taliban moved back in. Justin Buddy Lee will never forget that night six years ago. More than 20 Navy Seals died in the helicopter crash that killed 31 in Afghanistan yesterday. That means more raids, more targets and more reliance on Afghan competenceall of which add up to more special forces casualties. All rights reserved. A native of Pittsburgh, Pa., he remains obsessively curious about Texans and the Lone Star State culture. 2023 A&E Television Networks, LLC. RETWEET!, The president went on to follow that last command, although the Oscar the Midnight Rider account has since been suspended by Twitter. The second probe, led by Army Brigadier General Jeffrey Colt, explained in excruciating detail what all those familiar with military operations and helicopter aviation in Afghanistan already knew: chance and chance alone, took down Extortion 17. When the shock subsided, questions arose and persisted. Are such missiles appearing in Afghanistan? He would not have hesitated to fly with any of them. Men he knew. Lee heard the call, and he knew what it meant. A volley of three rockets total sped toward the general direction of the approaching Chinook, all launched within a few seconds of each other. A chief warrant officer 5, a member of the Colorado National Guard, Carter had over 4,500 flying hours, including more than 1,000 hours during combat deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Obama administration is violating a judges order to turn over documents in the Aug. 6, 2011, shootdown of a U.S. helicopter call sign Extortion 17 that killed members of SEAL Team 6 in Afghanistan, a watchdog group is charging. Copyright 2023 The Washington Times, LLC. The Costliest Day in SEAL Team Six History - HISTORY And we really feel that this put our guys in an unnecessary risk, Hamburger said. An official report was released in October 2011 but family members say it did little to fill in the details and left more questions than answers. Market data provided by Factset. Since filing a lawsuit, Mr. Klayman says, he has been stonewalled by the Justice Department, the Defense Department, the CIA and the National Security Agency. Some news stories reported that investigators couldnt find the helicopters black box, referring to the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder. The Chinook smashed into the ground, the force ripping off his goggles. There was a lot of experience in that cockpit, the flight engineers and the door gunners. A junior, he was ready to fight, but the war would be over, he figured, before he even got out of college. Whether enemy fire brought down the Chinook or a tree strike would never be known for sure. But some say the official report, which contained no direct criticism of decision-makers that day, did not delve deeply enough. The quick reaction force included SEAL Team 6 and other special operations personnel. Image:U.S. PresidentDonaldTrumpholds a campaign rally at John Murtha Johnstown-Cambria County Airport in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, U.S. October 13, 2020. On July 25, a Chinook was hit by a rocket propelled grenade fired by the Taliban.