Call Sign Extortion 17 (16 page)

Chapter 26

A Three-­Minute Burn? The Chopper in the Spotlight?

Although not directly addressed in the Executive Summary of the Colt Report, the danger of using a burn instead of a sparkle was that Taliban with night vision goggles could potentially see exactly where the chopper was flying, simply by following the burn down to the ground, and be ready with their RPGs.

In looking at the air traffic transcripts (also called “gun tapes”) in conjunction with the testimony of the AC-130 crew, there appears to be some confusion as to the actual length of the burn.

The air traffic transcripts alone suggest a burn lasting approximately two minutes. The air traffic transcripts combined with the AC-130 testimony suggest an even longer burn, of approximately three minutes.

Either way the infrared burn was entirely too long, giving the Taliban ample time to put the CH-47 in their crosshairs on the ground, and then simply wait.

So which is the more credible explanation? That the burn was cut at the 22:08:37 mark (as reported by the Apache and supporting the two-­minute burn theory), or that the burn lasted up through the shoot-­down and was cut only after the firing started (as reported by the AC-130)?

The more credible explanation seems to be that the burn illuminating the chopper lasted through the moment of shoot-­down, and was not cut at the 22:08:37 mark, but, rather, continued until after the RPGs started flying. But why? There are several reasons.

First, multiple witnesses on board the AC-130 testified
that the burn lasted through the shoot-­down
, versus only one co-­pilot who called “burn's out.” So the greater weight of the evidence suggests that the burn lasted through shoot-­down. Remember also that the recording on the gun tape was not sworn testimony, only a spontaneous observation of the co-­pilot's perceptions at a given moment in time. In this instance, the weight goes to the sworn testimony.

Second, the AC-130 was the aircraft actually initiating the burn. That flight crew was in the very best position to know whether they were initiating the burn, or not. They testified that the burn lasted through the shoot-­down.

How, then, do we reconcile the Apache co-­pilot calling “burn's out” at the 22:08:37 mark? Remember that there were four different aircraft moving in the sky, probably not in exactly the same direction: the two Apaches, the AC-130, and Extortion 17. It is possible that the Apache co-­pilot may have temporarily lost track of the burn and inadvertently called, “burn's out.” Also, bear in mind that the burn was only visible through night vision goggles, which increases the possibility that the co-­pilot may have momentarily lost track of it. Either way, there seems to be an indisputable inconsistency on a crucial point here, notably the time at which the burn actually went out.

Interestingly, the Colt Report does not even acknowledge the inconsistency in the evidence on the time of “burn's out,” let alone attempt to resolve it. But this is an area that needs to be looked at, and needs to be resolved, because elongated burn times can pose a threat to US helicopters seeking to insert troops.

One thing seems certain. With the confusion demonstrated by the chopper in the minutes before the shoot-­down, including the delays, the inexplicable ability to find the landing zone, the strange request for a sparkle minutes before landing, and the conclusion by some individuals at flight control that the Chinook was stalled in the air, Extortion 17 was acting like an aircraft whose crew may not have had full control over it. This brings us back to the original question about the pink elephant.

Who are the seven Afghans, and why won't the military talk about them?

Chapter 27

Fallen Angel: The Final Seconds of Extortion 17

In reading the transmission describing the shoot-­down in real time, keep two things in mind. First, Extortion 17, per the testimony of the Apache pilots at Exhibit 53, page 37, was between 100 and 150 feet off the ground when hit by an RPG. At page 52 of that same exhibit, the transcript noted that the chopper had slowed her airspeed to “80 knots or less.”

Eighty knots is 92 miles per hour. We don't really know what “or less” means, except that it's less than 92 miles per hour. But it seems doubtful that the chopper would be flying 92 miles per hour as it entered the landing zone. Helicopters slow and feather as they are about to set down. So that part (92 mph) is not believable. The “or less” part is believable. The question is, “How much less?” Probably considerably less.

Also keep in mind reports from flight control that the chopper was not moving at all. So the chopper was very low at this point, was truly about to land, and was so close to the ground that the RPG shot had to have been a point-­blank shot.

Remember that on the tape at thirty-­four seconds past 2:38 a.m. local time, Bryan Nichols (or someone impersonating him) said “One minute. One minute.”

Sixty-­eight seconds later, at 22:09:46 (2:39:46 local time), the aircraft had already been delayed, eight seconds behind the pilot's latest estimate. But strangely, it's still apparently hovering in the sky, just hanging there as a target, for reasons that remain a mystery.

In this portion of the transcript, “BS” is the backseat pilot in the Apache helicopter, or the lead pilot of Gun 1. “FS” is the front seat pilot, or co-­pilot, of Gun 1.

The sequence begins with the lead pilot of Gun 1 (BS) announcing, “I just saw a flash.”

Note the tragic announcement of “Fallen Angel,” the military distress code announcing that a US military aircraft has gone down.

Final Segment 3

 

The sudden, almost panic-­like reaction in the voices of the Apache pilots marked a very sad and dramatic moment for the Americans aboard Extortion 17. Their deaths, here, are recorded in real time. Indeed, this was a difficult passage to read. It's at this point, as precisely reflected on the gun tape, in a horrible flash at a moment frozen in time, that lives, American lives, were changed forever.

Braydon Nichols lost his father and Kimberly Vaughn lost her husband. Billy and Karen Vaughn lost their son. The two Vaughn children, Reagan and Chamberlain, in the horrible instant of a blinding moment, were forever fatherless.

Charles Strange, a blue-­collar worker from Philadelphia, lost his son Michael, who was a Navy cryptologist supporting the SEAL team, and Candie Reagan lost her longtime fiancé, Patrick Hamburger.

Young Payton Hamburger, just two years old, would never see her father again.

Before dissecting specific timeframes, it's important to note that this shoot-­down was not just witnessed by the Apache pilots, who were discussing it here in real time. It was also witnessed by the AC-130 pilot, along with several of his crewmembers. The pilot testified that three shots were fired, and that either the first or the second shot appeared to strike the chopper.

Meanwhile, another member of the AC-130 Crew, the Left Scanner, testified that the second RPG hit the chopper.

The first excerpt, taken from Exhibit 40, page 25, was the aircraft commander's testimony describing that he saw three shots fired at Extortion 17. Remember that the AC-130 was circling 7,000 to 8,000 feet overhead.

 

AC-130 Aircraft Commander:
Shortly after the burn came on we saw—I saw three RPG shots, kind of just ripple—one, two, three—coming from the south to the north, I was in the southern part of the orbit and I saw, what I saw was either the first or second one make an initial hit, and just a massive explosion, and it just seemed to be stationary and it just dropped.

 

Now here is the Left Scanner's testimony, at page 27 of Exhibit 40:

 

LEFT SCANNER:
I was sitting left scanner, I have a single monocle that I look out of—NVGs so I had like one eye that's just looking
normal, and one eye looking through the NVG. From my perspective the second RPG did hit directly. It made direct contact with the helicopter.

IO-­DEP:
The first RPG?

LEFT SCANNER:
The second RPG.

IO-­DEP:
The second RPG; I'm sorry.

LEFT SCANNER:
I think the first RPG went underneath the helicopter, from my perspective. The second one did make a direct hit with the helicopter and there was a fairly large explosion in the air, but it was split seconds between the time the helicopter was hit. There was that explosion, and then it hit the ground and then there was an explosion.

 

This testimony was highly relevant for two reasons. First, the aircraft commander revealed that three shots were fired at Extortion 17. But the second revelation, as alluded to earlier, is significant. The commander said, “Shortly after the burn came on we saw—I saw three RPG shots, kind of just ripple—one, two, three—coming from the south to the north.”

Note the testimony here was not “shortly after the burn went out,” but rather “shortly after the burn came on, we saw three RPG [rocket propelled grenade] shots.” So the pilot of the AC-130 testified that the burn was
on
at the time of shoot-­down. This is inconsistent with the Apache gun tape recording of “burn's out” at the 22:08:37 mark.

Now, remaining for the moment in Exhibit 40 of the Colt Report (interviews of AC-130 crew), take a look at a series of questions asked by the deputy investigating officer, beginning at page 27. These questions were directed at two AC-130 crewmembers, namely the television sensor operator and the left scanner.

On the question of how long the burn lasted, the television sensor operator's testimony was most crucial, because he was the airman who actually operated the burn.

 

TELEVISION SENSOR OPERATOR:
When he called that he saw RPGs come up, I turned off the burn, slid over to him, and that's
when I saw the third RPG. And, the third RPG had already started coming out of the tube when the Helo was already on the deck—it was already on the ground—impacted with the ground. And, at that point, I mean, the first or second one had to have hit it, and it was a massive fireball. I mean, it just lit up.

 

On the question of when the burn ended, the television sensor operator's testimony is compelling. “When he called that he saw RPGs come up, I turned off the burn, slid over to him, and that's when I saw the third RPG.” He turned the burn off
after
the RPGs were launched. This means that the landing zone, and perhaps even the chopper, were being spotlighted by the bright, wide burn at the moment of shoot-­down. This also means that the enemy on the ground, with a relatively inexpensive set of night vision goggles (NVGs) had plenty of time to focus on the spot-­lit landing zone, to ready his RPG, and to fire as the helicopter descended through the ultraviolet light.

It's clear that the possibility of the “burn” illuminating the chopper and making it a more visible target became a concern, at least to members of the AC-130 gun-­crew.

The navigator of the AC-130, at page 48, testified and verified other testimony that the burn size was roughly the size of a football field, but also noted that he didn't believe the burn could have highlighted the aircraft.

 

NAVIGATOR:
“Our burn is probably roughly the equivalent to the size of a football field and we're down here to the south on HLZ. I don't believe there's any way that our burn could have highlighted the aircraft.”

 

A couple of points about the navigator's comments. First, it's clear, at least at this point, that there was a concern about the burn lighting the helicopter. That's why the navigator says, “I don't believe there's any way that our burn could have highlighted the aircraft.”

Of course, it really doesn't matter whether the burn highlighted the aircraft, because the burn put a big bright spot, the size of a football field,
on the ground at the exact spot that the helicopter (Extortion 17) was flying to. All the Taliban had to do was get their RPGs, run to the edge of the big bright spot on the ground, stay back just behind the bright lights, wait until the helicopter flew in toward them, then point in the air, and aim toward the noise.