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.Īt the pilots’ request, the AC-130 flashed an infrared spotlight, which could be seen only through night vision goggles, to light up the landing zone. So the whole team went in one Chinook helicopter - Extortion 17. The landing zone was small, and the commanders didn’t want to split up the strike force. “ You also want to come in from a different direction for the element of surprise.” “You never want to use the same landing zone twice,” Darack said. The Chinook headed to a different landing zone than the first assault team - one in the narrowest part of the Tangi Valley. The team boarded Extortion 17 with Dave Carter and Bryan Nichols at the controls. The quick reaction force included SEAL Team 6 and other special operations personnel. The mission’s commanders decided to insert another team to go after Tahir while the Rangers held the compound.ĭarack did extensive research of what happened next. But Tahir and a group of his fighters escaped. That assault team captured Tahir’s compound and some of his men.
Six weeks later, at around 10:40 p.m., an assault team of Army Rangers and Afghan special operations forces were dropped into an LZ on a mission to capture or kill a Taliban commander named Qari Tahir, who had been responsible for a series of attacks and ambushes in the Tangi Valley, not far from Shank. Neither did the risk he and his pilots faced every night. The tempo of the missions did not decrease. Whether enemy fire brought down the Chinook or a tree strike would never be known for sure.įor Lee, there was no time to reflect on how close he had come to dying. Two investigations of the incident proved inconclusive. The worst of the wounded was one of Lee’s crew members, who suffered what was later diagnosed as a severe traumatic brain injury. It was a hard landing, but it would have been worse if they had landed tail first.Ībout a dozen of the 33 troops in the back of the helicopter suffered broken bones, heavy bruises and scrapes. One of the engines flew off, and the other caught fire. The front rotor shattered, and the back pylon sheared off. The Chinook smashed into the ground, the force ripping off his goggles. As he did, he felt the craft leveling off. He pushed hard on the cyclic stick to tilt the helicopter forward. He remembered the words of his old flight instructor: “Never stop flying the aircraft.”