First I read on a UK site (Daily Mail?) that the Blackhawk had taken fire and gone down. Now Senator Feinstein is claiming that the air was hotter than expected at the compound and that caused a sudden loss of lift. I heard the chopper had been “bombed” after the raid, then the account was that it was destroyed by our troops before departure. The last I saw it was being trucked away, looking pretty darned intact!
General McCaffrey was on TV first morning after the raid and he stated that the helo came under fire.....was shot down.
We can only speculate. Why did the other Blackhawk not have any problem with lift? From what I’ve read the challenge is to control height as the guys and their gear rope down and it loses payload fast. I’ve seen pictures of the charred chopper. Obviously the tail section survived the demo.
“Now Senator Feinstein is claiming that the air was hotter than expected at the compound and that caused a sudden loss of lift”
I was thinking the tail rotor came in contact with one of the high walls in the compound and that caused the crash. We had 4 helicopters trying to land in a relatively small area. I assume in due time the truth will come out.