On this day, August 5, 2011, 38 people were killed when a Chinook helicopter was shot down in Afghanistan.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

A year earlier, on September 21, 2010, a Blackhawk had gone down in Afghanistan:

List of aviation accidents and incidents in the war in Afghanistan, 2010

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September 21: A US Army UH-60 Blackhawk crashed in southern Afghanistan, killing 9 US soldiers. Cause of the crash was unknown but the Taliban have claimed to have shot it down. The helicopter was taking part of a Special Oprations mission. One Afghan Army soldier and one US civilian were wounded.

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Special forces and troops killed in Afghan helicopter crash identified

The Defense Department has identified the nine American troops, including four special forces, who were killed in the worst coalition helicopter crash in Afghanistan in four years.

Sept. 23, 2010, 8:25 AM EDT / Source: NBC News and news services

The Defense Department has identified nine American troops killed while supporting a special operations mission in Afghanistan.

The military announced Wednesday that four sailors were killed in the crash during combat operations a day earlier, along with five soldiers. It was the worst coalition helicopter crash in Afghanistan in four years.

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That was the 2010 crash. Here's the 2011 crash:

2011 Afghanistan Boeing Chinook shootdown


A Boeing CH-47D Chinook helicopter in Bagram,
Afghanistan, similar to the one that was shot down

Shootdown
Date: 5 August 2011
Summary: Shot down by rocket-propelled grenade
Site: Tangi Valley, Maidan Wardak Province, Afghanistan
Coordinates: 34°1'22.04"N 68°47'7.82"E

Aircraft
Occupants: 38
Passengers: 33
Crew: 5
Fatalities: 38
Survivors: 0

On 5 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. The resulting crash killed all 38 people on board – 23 US Navy SEALs, 2 United States Air Force Pararescue, 1 United States Air Force Combat Control Team member, one pilot and two crewmen of the United States Army Reserve, one pilot and one crewman of the United States Army National Guard, seven members of the Afghan National Security Forces, and one Afghan interpreter, as well as a U.S. military working dog. At 31 U.S. military personnel killed, the shoot down of Extortion 17 represents the greatest single-incident loss of U.S. lives in Operation Enduring Freedom – Afghanistan, surpassing the sixteen lost in the downing of Turbine 33, a 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne) MH-47, during Operation Red Wings on 28 June 2005.

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Subsequent events

After the shoot-down of Extortion 17, the insurgent responsible used a two-way radio to brag to others about the act. American signals Intelligence aircraft intercepted these transmissions, and subsequently tracked the individual and his accomplice. American intelligence officials identified this individual as "OBJECTIVE GINOSA." On the night of 8 August 2011, an F-16 dropped four GBU-54 "Laser JDAM" bombs on the man, his accomplice, and four associates in the Chak Valley, which lies to the west of the Tangi Valley. Monitored and controlled by a Joint Terminal Attack Controller at Forward Operating Base Shank via a General Atomics MQ-1 Predator unmanned aerial vehicle, all six were killed and positively confirmed killed by the bomb strike and subsequent attacks by a Lockheed AC-130 gunship and two Boeing AH-64 Apache helicopter gunships.

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Tue Aug 8, 2023: On August 5, 2011, 38 people were killed when a Chinook helicopter was shot down in Afghanistan.

Sun Aug 8, 2021: On August 5, 2011, 38 people were killed when a Chinook helicopter was shot down in Afghanistan

[cpamomfromtexas]

1. My friend's husband was on the chinook