Fri, Oct 14, 2011
Official Report Indicates No Fault On Part Of The Aircrew
The official investigation into the downing of a CH-47 Chinook
helicopter in Afghanistan on August 6th indicates that the aircrew
was not at fault for the accident. The aircraft was brought down by
a rocket propelled grenade (RPG) fired by Taliban militants with 38
people fatally injured.
File Photo
According to the official findings, the aircrew did not fly into
a trap set by the insurgents. "The shoot down was not the result of
a baited ambush, but rather the result of the enemy being at a
heightened state of alert due to 3 1/2 hours of ongoing coalition
air operations concentrated over the northwestern portion of the
Tangi Valley" in Wardak province, US Brigadier General Jeffrey Colt
wrote in an executive summary of the report.
The report says that the first shot missed the Chinook, but a
second RPG hit the helo's aft rotor blade, causing the aircraft to
go down in a dry creek bed. A post-impact fire ensued resulting in
secondary explosions from fuel and munitions.
There were two helicopters assigned to the mission, but the
entire Immediate Reaction Force (IRF) was on board one of the
aircraft. Colt wrote in the summary that "the decision to load the
IRF onto one CH-47D in order to mitigate risk by minimizing
aircraft exposure to ground fire and to mass the assault task force
was tactically sound." He also said what while the task force
commander did not reallocate the intelligence, surveillance and
reconnaissance aircraft in advance of the mission, it was not the
cause of the shoot-down.
22 members of an elite SEAL team were lost in the crash, as well
as other U.S. and Afghan military personal and an Afghan
interpreter. It was the largest number of casualties in a single
day for the U.S. in the 10 year war in Afghanistan.
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