Rescuers Reach U.S. Helicopter Wreckage [all 16 on board are confirmed dead]

AP ^ | June 30 2005 | DANIEL COONEY

[Dog]

KABUL, Afghanistan - Rescuers have reached the wreckage of a U.S. special forces helicopter that crashed in a rugged mountain ravine in eastern Afghanistan, but there was no immediate word on the fate of the 17 troops on board, a U.S. military spokesman said Thursday.

"We are at the wreckage as we speak," Lt. Col. Jerry O'Hara told The Associated Press. "We are conducting search and recovery operations. But we are more into the recovery stage."

He declined to elaborate on efforts to find survivors or the bodies of the 17, who were believed to have died in Tuesday's crash.

The British Broadcasting Corp. reported on its Web site that U.S. officials at the main American base near the crash site said 13 bodies had been recovered. Seven other soldiers, including some that were fighting on the ground, were missing, the BBC reported.

U.S. spokeswomen Lt. Cindy Moore declined to comment on the report, saying the military would release a new statement on the crash later Thursday.

A military statement said U.S.-led coalition forces were "currently assessing the cause of the crash and the status of the 17 servicemembers who were on board the MH-47 helicopter."

O'Hara said "there are still bad guys in the area" around the crash site and that troops were having to "do a recovery and a tactical operation at the same time."

Militants are believed to have shot down the MH-47 helicopter as it was bringing in reinforcements for a battle with suspected al-Qaida fighters.

If those aboard are confirmed dead, the crash would be the deadliest blow yet to American forces in Afghanistan, already grappling with an insurgency that is widening rather than winding down.

A storm that hampered rescuers from reaching the wreckage Wednesday had passed by Thursday. Recovery operations also have been made difficult by the rugged terrain of the remote crash site, reachable only by foot, and continued fighting with militants.

Officials in the United States said they knew of no communications from the crash site near Asadabad, in eastern Kunar province.

Even before word of the crash was announced, a Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility and said he had footage of the attack. As of Thursday, no video had surfaced.

U.S. military spokesman Col. James Yonts said the helicopter was fired on as it approached a landing zone in the mountains. It flew on but crashed about a mile away at dusk.

American officials cited reports from the region that the helicopter either crashed or made a perilous landing on the mountainside, then went down in the ravine, suggesting little hope of survival. They said, however, they could not confirm the deaths, and they spoke on condition of anonymity since rescue operations were ongoing.

Only eight months ago, Afghan and U.S. officials were hailing a relatively peaceful presidential election here as a sign that the Taliban rebellion was finished. That bravado has been yet another casualty in a war some feel could escalate into a conflict on the scale of Iraq's.

The loss of the helicopter follows three months of unprecedented fighting that has killed about 465 suspected insurgents, 43 Afghan police and soldiers, 125 civilians, and 29 U.S. troops. Afghan and American officials have predicted the situation will deteriorate before legislative elections are held in September.

The Taliban have stepped up attacks, and there are disturbing signs that foreign fighters - including some linked to al-Qaida - might be making a new push to sow mayhem. Afghan officials say the fighters have used the porous border with Pakistan to enter the country, and officials have called on the Pakistani government do more to stop them.

The crash was the second of a Chinook helicopter in Afghanistan this year. On April 6, 15 U.S. service members and three American civilians were killed when their chopper went down in a sandstorm while returning to the main U.S. base at Bagram.

[Dog]

They have reached the crash site....the news could get worse.

[Dog]

BEEB is reporting seven are missing...

[reagan_fanatic]

"We are conducting search and recovery operations. But we are more into the recovery stage."

Does not sound good. Prayers out for anyone who may have survived this tragedy.

[EX52D]

I'm not feeling good about the missing soldiers. God Bless them all! :(

[cripplecreek]

Can any military folks explain what "indirect fire" is?

Thanx.

[Dog]

Read here.

Indirect fire

[ko_kyi]

(nonmilitary) I believe it is when the person operating the weapon can't see what they are shooting at, but rather are getting targeting informatio from another source - like a soldier with a radio.

[Types_with_Fist]

Lord. This story is driving me nuts. I know it's a remote area and I'm used to fast news but I've been anxious for two days to find out what happened to these men.

Am I understanding here that it's possible some of those heathens have a few of our guys?

[cripplecreek]

Thanks. I knew that the chopper was taking direct and indirect fire when it went down and I was curious.

[Dog]

Am I understanding here that it's possible some of those heathens have a few of our guys?

Quite possible.....but lets see how this shakes out....before we go off willy nilly.

These were the best of the best....if anyone could survive an engagement its these guys.

[Magnum44]

the deadliest blow yet to American forces in Afghanistan, already grappling with an insurgency that is widening rather than winding down

Bias. No mention that this is the middle of their spring offensive, which has come each year after the thaw, and that we are in fact deep into their turf, not the other way around. Sad for the loss but we are winning this conflict and the media wont say so. This is the equivalent of searching under every rock and in every home and hole in the southern Sierra's from Mammoth Lakes to Kings Canyon by a few thousand men.

[Coop]

Yeah, I was reading the info over at CENTCOM's site. We lost some great ones yesterday.

[Dog]

They landed or tried to land into a very hot LZ..

[ko_kyi]

"Thanks. I knew that the chopper was taking direct and indirect fire when it went down and I was curious."

Direct probably means RPG and small arms. Taliban probably used mortars, rockets, or small field guns for indirect. According to a book I read, they sometimes used RPGs like mortars, lobbing grenades in high arcs over hills and such.

[eyespysomething]

Prayers!

[Dog]

Did you see the map I posted this morning from our friend Boot?

[PISANO]

Any war that has ONE helocopter shut down in ONE year and ONE helocopter go down because of mechanical problems in ONE year does NOT portend a MASSIVE increase in enemy operations.

The MSM is simply awful. For years they report NOTHING of the tremendous historical accomplishments in Afghanistan, BUT as soon as there is a miniscule upturn in hostilities they report the bad news as though Afghanistan has suddenly turned into Okinawa.

[lysie]

Sad news. Praying for the missing.

[Dog]

This is a map of the area...

Asadabad (aka: Chaghasaray or any of eleven other variants): A small city located alongside the Kunar River, in Kunar (variant: Konar) Province of eastern Afghanistan on the Pakistani border. Asadabad is located 184 km (114 mi.), ENE (78º) from Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan. This area is extremely mountainous with deep valleys and is located along the southern side of the Hindu Kush mountain range. A topo (not available online) of the area shows nearby mountain peaks exceeding 14,000 feet in height.

The valley of the Kunar River runs roughly north-east to south-west and where it crosses the Pakistani border in the north, it becomes the Chitral River. Asadabad is located only 10 miles from the Pakistani border via a mountainous pass to the east, but the more likely routes in are a 60 mile trek along the river road to the north-east.

The Kunar/Chitral river basin is a notorious and extremely dangerous al-Qa'ida stronghold. Intelligence reports have long suggested that Osama bin Laden's hideout is within the mid to northern end of this river basin. Therefore, stay alert for any stories involving the Kunar or Chitral areas. The MH-47 helicopter that crashed was carrying Navy SEALs and other spec-ops personnel into the area as part of Operation Red Wing hunting al-Qa'ida terrorists. (source)

The map below covers the northern border areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan. Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, can be seen at the center, extreme left, of the map. Traveling east from there, we come to Jalalabad, Afghanistan. Note the Safed Koh mountains, immediately south of Jalalabad. This is the site of the notorious "Tora Bora" cave complex. Continuing east from Jalalabad, we enter the historically famous (or infamous, if you're British) Khyber Pass and emerge into Pakistan where we arrive at one of that country's larger cities, Peshawar. The city of Asadabad is found slightly north of the center on the map.

[Types_with_Fist]

Thanks.

Yes, these guys are the best of the best... testimony to why this old decrepit "willy nilly" worry wart isn't with them...:-)

Prayers.