Afghan RPG cause of fatal SEALs crash

The August 6 helicopter crash which killed Special Warfare Operator 1st Class Jesse Daryl Pittman, 27, of Willits, and 37 others in Afghanistan was caused by a rocket-propelled grenade exploding against the rear rotor of their Chinook helicopter, according to a report released this month by the U.S. Central Command.

From the moment the grenade exploded against the rotor blade to the helicopter’s crash in a fireball into the creekbed about 150 feet below was less than five seconds, says Brigadier General Jeffrey Colt, who headed the investigation. “I assess that the injuries sustained by all 38 personnel would have immediately incapacitated them and were most likely rapidly fatal.”

“I have determined that this mission, and the tactics and resources employed in its execution, were consistent with previous U.S. special operations missions and the strike forces selected to execute the mission were appropriate,” says Colt. “For the families, friends and fellow warriors of the fallen, American and Afghan, the loss of these selfless and courageous men was a tragedy from which this report can provide little comfort. I offer my deepest condolences personally and on behalf of my investigative team, to all of those who mourn the loss of these brave men.”

While the report did not fault the use of the Chinook helicopter loaded with troops for this particular mission, it did critique the failure of the task force commander to “reallocate the intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft to ensure surveillance coverage for ongoing (Ranger-led assault force) and the inbound” SEAL mission. The report also suggested that use of overhead aircraft prior to a helicopter insertion should be better coordinated to avoid giving the enemy an early warning of “imminent ground operations.”

Military intelligence had identified the likely location of Qari Tahir, a senior Taliban leader in the Tangi Valley section of Wardak Province, Afghanistan. A special operations task force was assembled to capture or kill him during the night of August 5 and 6. The first assault team was comprised of a U.S. Army Ranger platoon and an Afghan partnering unit. A second Immediate Reaction Force built around a troop of U.S. Navy SEALs was designated to support the operation if necessary. The high-risk nature of this operation required advance approval from higher level commanders at headquarters.

Two Chinook CH-47D helicopters airlifted the first assault team to a landing zone near Tahir’s suspected compound. This force was supported by two Apache attack helicopters, an AC-130 gunship and a “relatively robust team of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft.” The Ranger’s mission was to secure Tahir’s suspected compound and gather intelligence from any detainees and items. The Rangers landed at 10:58 p.m. August 5. As the Rangers were engaged at the compound, reconnaissance aircraft detected groups of individuals fleeing the area.

One suspected Taliban group of eight men, armed with AK-47 assault rifles and RPG launchers were spotted leaving the area, walking single-file to the northwest. One Apache helicopter engaged this group, killing six, and scattering the rest into the bush.

A second group of suspected Taliban fighters was being followed by reconnaissance aircraft while the Rangers cleared and secured the compound. During the course of the night the group grew from two to 10 people. This group took refuge inside and around a building about two kilometers from the original target compound. The target of the entire operation, Tahir, was believed by U.S. commanders to be amongst the splinter group.

The Rangers had fully secured their compound by 2:45 a.m. August 6 and were interrogating detainees.

The special operations task force commander had been monitoring the growing splinter group of suspected fighters and decided to augment the 17 Navy SEALS by adding five Naval Special Operations support personnel, three Air Force Special Tactics Airmen, an interpreter, seven Afghan soldiers and a military canine. This brought the Immediate Reaction Force to 33 men plus the five man CH-47D crew. “According to the aviation task force commander immediately responsible for the helicopter support, an informed tactical decision was made to load all personnel on one aircraft because the IRF commander wanted to mass troops quickly, and to mitigate the increased risk to a second helicopter approaching the landing zone.”

Both CH-47D choppers left the forward operating base at 2:22 a.m. The lead copter carrying the IRF had a very experienced flight crew; one of the pilots had more than 719 hours of combat flying time and 4,600 hours of total flight time. Both choppers flew into the valley by a different route than used earlier by the Ranger mission. They were fully “blacked out” using no lighting or external beacons. The trailing chopper stopped six minutes out from the landing zone and began circling at a predetermined holding point, while the lead chopper proceeded on.

The doomed CH-47D approached the landing zone from the northwest, descending to about 100 to 150 feet from the ground and slowing to about 58 mph. Unknown to the task force, a group of Taliban fighters were housed in a two-story mud building 721 feet south of the landing zone. A Taliban fighter hiding in the second story fired two or three RPGs rapidly at the helicopter. The first grenade missed and the second exploded on a rear rotor blade, blowing off 10 feet of blade. The helicopter spun rapidly with first the rear rotor then the forward rotor separating from the fuselage. The main fuselage dropped into the creek bed below and became “engulfed in a large fireball, causing multiple secondary explosions of fuel and munitions until the aircraft burned out several hours later.”

Investigators have determined the Taliban were in a “heightened state of alert due to 3.5 hours of coalition air operations concentrated over the northwestern portion of the Tangi Valley.” The report says, “The shoot-down was not the result of a baited ambush”.

The crash happened at about 2:38 a.m. August 6.

The Ranger assault force was immediately tasked to move rapidly on foot to the crash site, arriving there at about 4:12 a.m. Recovery efforts were hampered by secondary explosions coming from the wreckage. The Rangers established a security perimeter around the crash and searched the area for survivors. A 20-man Pathfinder team arrived within minutes after the Rangers secured the site. Pathfinder units specialize in downed aircraft rescue and recover. By 10:38 a.m. all 38 men and the military canine had been accounted for.

A ground convoy made its way past a number of improvised explosive devices to the crash site to help recover the remains and other evidence. All of the remains were en route from the crash scene to a secure base via ground transport by 4:25 p.m.

That afternoon a flash flood swept through the crash site with four to five feet of water, washing wreckage more than 600 feet downstream.

 

-willitsnews.com

-wikipedia.org

Australia clears Chinooks for flight

The Australian Army’s five Chinook helicopters have been given the all-clear to fly again after concerns over their airworthiness had them grounded for more than a week. A suspension of the Chinook was put in place on September 30 but Army chief David Morrison said on Sunday the fleet had been put back in operation.

“Through thorough investigation and consultation with Boeing and the US Army – the largest operator of the CH-47D Chinook – we established there are no issues with the aircraft AFCS (Advanced Flight Control System),” Lieutenant-General Morrison said in a statement.

The army had been concerned the AFCS didn’t work under certain flight conditions. Of the five Chinooks that Australia owns, two are in Afghanistan, one is in Papua New Guinea, one at Horn Island north of Queensland, and the last operates out of Townsville.

Australia had access to US helicopters in Afghanistan so there was no impact on operations.

Source: The Sydney Morning Herald

Wrath of Irene causes East Coast to struggle for recovery

KILLINGTON, Vt. — Running low on food and money, Vermont residents stranded by flooded roads relied upon provisions dropped by National Guard troops to get by today while the rest of the East Coast labored to recover from the wrath of the hurricane-turned-tropical storm known as Irene.

At Killington Elementary School, residents came for a free hot dog and corn-on-the-cob. Jason and Angela Heaslip picked up a bag filled with peanut butter, cereal and toilet paper for their three children and three others who are visiting from Long Island.

“Right now, they’re getting little portions because we’re trying to make the food last,” said Jason Heaslip, who only has a dollar in his bank account because the resort where he works hasn’t been able to pay him due to the storm.

One flooded Vermont town still remained totally cut off from the outside world today, and National Guard Chinook and Black Hawk helicopters were still dropping supplies on storm-ravaged parts of the state. In places like Killington, residents were banding together to keep the community functioning. Some volunteered tractors to help remove mud and debris, while those with working electricity were letting neighbors use their showers.

Nearly 2 million people remained without power in water-logged homes and businesses from North Carolina through New England, where the storm has been blamed for at least 45 deaths in 13 states. Raging floodwaters continued to ravage parts of northern New Jersey this morning, even after the state’s rain-swollen rivers crested and slowly receded.

“It’s like an island now,” said Falguni Purohit, who owns the Killington Pico Motor Inn on Route 4 in Mendon, Vt., where her family and one guest are trapped. “We can’t go anywhere.”

The town of Rutland is 15 miles away but impossible to reach because of extensive road damage. Purohit said the family has power and plenty of food and water to keep them going, but no way of leaving. Nearly 11 inches of rain triggered the deluges, which knocked houses off their foundations, destroyed covered bridges and caused earthquake-style damage to infrastructure all over Vermont.

“We are dropping water, food and supplies, trying to help out folks who are hurting,” said U.S. Army national Guard Capt. David Fabricius, who was working at an airport in Fair Haven, Vt., where ground crews were loading provisions onto helicopters that recently had flown missions in Iraq.

Towns around New Jersey resembled large, soggy yard sales today as residents dragged flood-damaged belongings out onto lawns and into streets still muddied with floodwaters left behind by Hurricane Irene. In Wallington, a heart-shaped, one-square-mile town of about 12,000 residents, large sections remained inundated with floodwaters from the Passaic River, which winds around the small hamlet and hits it from several angles.

“Sunday morning the water was only up to here,” said resident Kevin O’Reilly, gesturing to where his front lawn used to meet the sidewalk. “Sunday afternoon, the waves were bouncing off the house, and that’s when it blew out the basement windows. It sounded like Niagara Falls. It just filled up immediately, and this is what we’ve been dealing with since then.”

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said Tuesday night that he saw “just extraordinary despair” after touring flooded areas.

Irene washed away large swaths of beach along Connecticut’s coast, leaving many residents concerned about ocean water closing in around their property. Emergency orders have been issued to allow coastal residents to immediately repair or shore up areas that threaten properties.

The Connecticut River at Hartford crested Tuesday evening at its highest level since 1987, according to Nicole Belk, a hydrologist with the National Weather Service, in Taunton, Mass. But she said levees helped minimize flooding in riverside communities.

Vermont’s largest electric utility says a convoy of line crews is headed for the town of Rochester — where a power substation was completely destroyed by flooding — to begin work to restore power. Officials say at least five Vermont schools are closed until further notice and about 120 have delayed opening for the school year because of roads or schools ravaged by flooding.

Flood control dams and basins that New England states installed after 1955 floods helped prevent a catastrophe in the lower Connecticut River basin, said Denise Ruzicka, director of inland water resources for Connecticut’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.

In Vermont, officials focused on providing basic necessities to residents who in many cases still have no power, no telephone service and no way to get in or out of their towns

Vermont National Guard choppers made three drops in Killington, Mendon, Pittsfield and Rochester Tuesday while 10 other towns received truck deliveries of food, blankets, tarps and water. Eight Black Hawk and Chinook helicopters from the Illinois National Guard are expected to arrive today to bolster the number of flights.

Volunteers in Windham, N.Y., helped 26-year-old Antonia Schreiber salvage the floors of the 200-year-old Victorian cottage she had transformed into a luxury day spa.

The ski town, high in the Catskill Mountains, was left under several feet of brick-red water Sunday night after a stony creek grew to a raging river fueled by a foot of rain.

“Friends, loved ones, people I don’t even know showed up with trucks, bulldozers and hugs,” she said as men and women scraped and mopped around her. “The magnitude of generosity and good will is just overwhelming.”

While East Coast residents measured the cost of the storm in waterlogged cars and ruined furniture, official predictions were more dire.

In North Carolina, where Irene blew ashore along the Outer Banks on Saturday before heading for New York and New England, Gov. Beverly Perdue said the hurricane destroyed more than 1,100 homes and caused at least $70 million in damage.

During a visit to the Catskill Mountains Today, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he expects damage in the state to total $1 billion.

Early today, President Barack Obama declared a major disaster in New York, freeing up federal recovery funds for people in eight counties. Assistance can include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses, and other programs. Irene destroyed 500 to 600 homes and thousands of acres of farmland in upstate New York.

Total losses from the storm along the U.S. Atlantic Coast — including damage and expenses incurred by governments — are likely to be about $7 billion, according to Jan Vermeiren, CEO of Silver Spring, Md.-based risk consultant Kinetic Analysis Corp., which uses computer models to estimate storm losses.

 

-freep.com

U.S. Chinook shot down by RPG in Afghanistan

Minor casualties were reported after a rocket-propelled grenade downed a Chinook helicopter carrying U.S. and Afghanistan soldiers as it attempted to land at a coalition forces base in eastern Afghanistan early Monday. Some 20 people were on board, including soldiers and crew.

The Chinook helicopter crashed shortly after midnight when the rocket hit the rear of the helicopter on its descent into Nangalam Base in the Pech River Valley of Kunar province.

A rescue team that responded to the crash came under small-arms fire, drawing return fire from U.S. and Afghan soldiers. No further coalition casualties were reported.

No word on who was responsible for the attack has been released.

The Pech River Valley and several adjoining valleys, including the Korengal and Shuryak, are considered Taliban strongholds, and attacks on coalition forces remain a regular occurrence as the Afghanistan war approaches the 10-year mark.

Source: Stars and Stripes

Australian Chinook downed in Afghanistan

An Australian army aviator died and five others were injured when a twin-rotor Chinook crashed during a resupply mission after departing southern Kandahar Air Base on Monday, Defence chief Angus Houston said.

In a black day for the Australian Defence Force in Afghanistan, the helicopter crash occurred just hours after an Australian soldier was shot and killed by a “rogue soldier” from the Afghan National Army.

Air Chief Marshal Houston said he did not know what caused the Chinook to crash but enemy action could not be ruled out. Speculations suggest that an insurgent ground fire may have been a factor in a fatal helicopter crash over southern Afghanistan.

“We’re very eager to know whether any enemy action was involved or whether there was some other problem with the Chinook helicopter,” he said.

A US Chinook, which accompanying the Australian helicopter, landed immediately to provide medivac assistance. The Australian officer received treatment but died at the crash site. The five crash survivors all Australian are now recovering in a coalition military hospital in Kandahar.

Source: theaustralian.com.au

Black Hawk in Osama raid encountered higher risks

The newer’ version UH-60 Black Hawks that raided Osama’s compound had encountered higher than expected temperatures which forced one of the aircraft to make an unplanned hard landing. The loss of a U.S. Black Hawk helicopter during the mission that killed Osama bin Laden reveals the vulnerability of such aircraft, but also reflects important lessons learned from earlier helicopter accidents.

U.S. government officials say the helicopter destroyed during the mission in Pakistan was a newer version of the two Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawks that were shot down during a raid in Somalia in October 1993 that killed 18 soldiers.

In Sunday’s mission, two Black Hawk helicopters were supposed to hover over the bin Laden compound and allow Navy special operations forces to rappel to the ground.

When one of the helicopters ran into problems — including temperatures that were 17 degrees higher than expected — and had to land abruptly, two Boeing Chinook helicopters were called in to help get the U.S. troops out, said one U.S. government official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

One Chinook would have sufficed, but a second one was sent in case that helicopter also ran into trouble, said Pike.

In Pakistan, the helicopter packed with soldiers made a “controlled but hard landing” after encountering higher-than-expected temperatures at bin Laden’s compound near Islamabad, Senator Dianne Feinstein told reporters on Tuesday.

Joseph Trevithick, an analyst with the globalsecurity.org website, said “Helicopters are way more reliable than they were in the 1950s, but unfortunately, they’re still very sensitive to the environment.”

The Pentagon is still investigating the problem in the bin Laden raid, but the helicopter was not damaged by enemy fire, said one defense official, who was not authorized to speak on the record. Officials said it suffered mechanical failure.

U.S. forces quickly destroyed the Black Hawk, which was built by Sikorsky Aircraft, a unit of United Technologies Corp, to avoid any of its sensitive equipment falling into enemy hands, said the defense official.

Source: Reuters

RNLAF’s CH-47F (NL) Chinook makes first flight

Representatives of Boeing, its suppliers and the Netherlands Ministry of Defence marked the first flight of the Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF) CH-47F (NL) Chinook heavy-lift helicopter in a ceremony Jan. 25 at Summit Aviation in Middletown, Del.

The RNLAF has ordered six CH-47F (NL) Chinooks to enhance its current fleet of 11 CH-47D (NL) aircraft.

The new Chinooks are equipped with survivability equipment, a forward-looking infrared system, and fast rope positions, which will be used to support Special Forces operations. The engines will include air particle separators for operation in harsh environments. These additions will make the RNLAF CH-47F a versatile, multi-role aircraft for worldwide operations.

Boeing expects to begin delivering the aircraft later this year, making the RNLAF the first international customer to field the new CH-47F.

The flight tests have included assessments of the advanced operational capabilities enabled by the aircraft’s Avionics Control and Management System cockpit and newly integrated Digital Automatic Flight Control System. By the conclusion of the tests, the aircraft will be certified airworthy by the Netherlands Military Aviation Authority.

“The Chinook has over the years proven itself to be a true workhorse for the Netherlands Air Force,” said Air Commodore Theo ten Haaf, Commanding Officer Defence Helicopter Command of the RNLAF. “The aircraft proved to be ‘the right tool’ for a difficult and challenging job, especially in austere environments and during the combined air and ground operations in Afghanistan. Both ground troops and aircrew speak highly of it.”

He added, “The CH-47F is a major improvement over the 47D model. The arrival of these new aircraft in the RNLAF will ensure that the RNLAF continues to operate with the best in the field of tactical transport helicopter operations both now and in the future.”

- Boeing

UK Chinook Mk4 Flight Testing Begins

On Jan. 24, Boeing and its Boeing Defense UK subsidiary announced that the Boeing UK Rotorcraft Support team has begun flight testing the first Chinook Mk4 helicopter for the Royal Air Force (RAF). The first flight took place on Dec. 9 in Hampshire, England.

Chris White-Horne, Mk4 project team leader for the United Kingdom Ministry of Defense, said “Project JULIUS, as the Mk4 program is known, will modernize the current Royal Air Force Chinook fleet – essentially giving us new aircraft.”

Project JULIUS will modify 38 Mk2/2A Chinooks into the Mk4/4A configuration and eight Mk3 Chinooks into the Mk5 configuration. All the aircraft will be delivered to RAF Odiham in Hampshire.

A major part of the modification for both the Mk4/4A and Mk5 aircraft is the Thales TopDeck cockpit. Thales UK is under contract with Boeing to supply its Cockpit Display System/Mission Avionic System, which will provide improved situational awareness, increased safety and options for capability enhancement. The upgraded and integrated cockpit display includes four multifunction displays, two stand-by flight displays, updated communications interfaces, and two new air data computers.

David Pitchforth, managing director, Boeing UK Rotorcraft Support, said “The first of the modified JULIUS Chinook helicopters is expected to be available to commanders before the end of 2011.” Pitchforth also said that “The entire Mk2 fleet will be fitted with the JULIUS cockpit by early 2015, followed by Mk2A and Mk3 modifications by 2015 and 2016, respectively.”

The modifications also include the addition of a third crew-member seat and an update of Airworthiness & Safety Certification and Qualification for the modernized Chinook. The aircraft are being modified at the Gosport Fleetlands facility operated by Vector Aerospace, Boeing’s principal subcontractor for deep support of the RAF Chinook fleet. Vector Aerospace has established a dedicated production line at Fleetlands to support the JULIUS program, with specialist component manufacture provided from its Almondbank facility near Perth, Scotland.

Tim Rice, managing director, Vector Aerospace UK, said “Vector Aerospace is delighted to be associated with this significant milestone. It is a testimony to the skill and dedication of our teams in Fleetlands and Almondbank, who have worked in a spirit of true partnership with our customer Boeing and the key equipment suppliers.”

-planenews.com

 

Canadian watchdog: Military Broke Rules on Helo Purchase

Canada’s Defence Department broke government procurement rules when it purchased new Chinook and maritime helicopters, low-balled the costs of the acquisitions and did not develop full life-cycle costs for the two aircraft fleets, according to the report.

Released in Ottawa on Oct. 26, the report said Auditor General Sheila Fraser examined the purchase of the Cyclone maritime helicopter from Sikorsky and the Chinook helicopter from Boeing. The total cost of the two programs is 11 billion Canadian dollars ($10.9 billion).

“We understand that acquiring complex military equipment like these helicopters presents unique challenges,” Fraser said. “Nonetheless, the results of this audit are troubling.”

The Defence Department will be taking actions on all recommendations made by the Auditor General, a senior Canadian Force official said.

- DefenseNews

CH-47 Chinooks back from Afghanistan

CH-47-Chinook

Australia’s Rotary Wing Group rotation is returning home for a well-earned break and mandatory maintenance on their aircraft after 737 flying hours and having moved in excess of 691,000 kilograms of supplies and equipment over the last eight months.

The task group and their two CH-47 Chinooks will return to Afghanistan early in the New Year to recommence flight operations in support of ISAF efforts – a deployment they have undertaken since rotations began in 2006.

The Chinooks are unable to fly during Afghanistan’s harsh winter months.

The two Chinooks chalked up an impressive 860 sorties, transporting more than 4700 troops while assisting the efforts of the International Stabilisation Assistance Force (ISAF) on this current rotation.
Task Group Commander, Lieutenant Colonel David Lynch said the effort of the team was highly commendable.

” On just about all the missions we flew this year supporting our coalition partners; our crews were fulfilling the role of Air Mission Commander, taking the lead and providing direction to the other Coalition aircraft involved in the missions,” he said.

“A key mission requirement for the Task Group was to ensure that the CH-47‘s were mission ready whenever they were required,” Lieutenant Colonel Lynch said.

Maintenance crews have already stripped the Rotary Wing Groups double decker bus-sized helicopters and packed them into a pair of Royal Australian Air Force C-17 Globemaster III aircraft for the return trip to Australia.

- defence.gov.au -