The news keeps saying this incident that killed 30 SEALs was a “helicopter crash”. Only one news report I heard (on a local radio station, I may add) mentioned that the helicopter was shot down and the Taliban has taken credit. I just want to hear the Straight Dope on which is technically correct. When the media says it was a “crash”, they’re doing these heroes a disservice.
Without commenting on the ins and outs of the incident in Afganistan I don’t see any conflict. A “crash” just indicates the plane hit the ground in an uncontrolled way; it says nothing about the events leading up to this. A plane/helicopter can crash due to pilot error, mechanical failure, or enemy action - it’s still a crash.
Now if the news reports had described it as an “accident” that would have been wrong.
Incidently I am not sure why you see this reporting - even if it did not imply enemy action - as “doing these heroes a disservice”. The SEALs are heros due to their own actions - not due to how they met their end. They would still be heros if the plane bringing them back to the States had crashed on landing.
I have seen no news organization that has denied that the plane was shot down.
The bare facts are that the copter did crash and that, almost immediately, elements of the Taliban took credit for shooting it down.
However, it apparently crashed out of sight of any allied units and, (I suppose), went down without the pilots reporting that they had been hit.
Therefore, until the wreckage is actually examined and the cause determined, the U.S. and NATO are identifying it as a “crash” while acknowledging that the crash might have been caused by enemy fire.
They are just being cautious.
For example, suppose the crash had nothing to do with the Taliban. The Taliban would still want to claim credit to boost their own PR that they were the agents that brought it down. Simply taking their word that they caused the crash means that we are supporting their PR. If we then discovered that the crash was due to mechanical failure or some other cause, the U.S. would look like it was backtracking on the story just to deny the Taliban claims.
At no point has the U.S. denied that the Taliban was responsible, they are simply using the neutral term “crash” until the facts have been verified. Every story that I have seen has mentioned the Taliban claim, so no one is hiding anything.
Great answer by tomndebb… just wanted to add that most sources have reported it was shot down, but also reported that an RPG shooting down an aircraft would be very unusual.
From the Guardian: " the insurgency has had relatively little success in attacking aircraft, given the huge amount of helicopter traffic in a country with few roads."
From the BBC: " it is rare for the Taliban to shoot down aircraft. The Taliban say they have modified their rocket-propelled grenades to improve their accuracy but that may not be true, our correspondent says."
From the NY Times: “This was the second helicopter to be shot down by insurgents in the past two weeks. On July 25, a Chinook was shot down in Kunar Province, injuring two people on board. Of 15 crashes or forced landings this year, those two were the only confirmed cases where hostile fire was involved.”