« Korb and Wadhams: Five steps | Main | Two police chiefs sacked. Problem solved, right? »

October 09, 2007

The joyride of Blackwater 61

The recent spotlight on Blackwater and contractor accountability led Der Spiegel to print the transcript of a 2004 Blackwater transport flight in Afghanistan. The crew diverted their mission into a joyride through a canyon which ended badly. It gives a sense of the rules and beliefs some of these guys are operating under. It's morbid -- and completely transfixing -- reading.

The Transcript of the Deadly Flight Der Spiegel 10/06/2007: A newly released transcript shows how Blackwater pilots in Afghanistan took their plane on a joyride and died in a crash. On November 27, 2004, transport flight Blackwater 61, a turboprop CASA 212-CC, crashed in the mountains of Afghanistan. The plane was operated by Presidential Airways, a subsidiary of the private security company Blackwater, also operating as Blackwater Aviation under contract for the United States Department of Defense. The crew had left their regular flight route for "fun" to fly through a canyon, at the end of which they crashed into a rock wall. The words of the pilots reveal in stunning detail the cynicism of a war between audacity and folly, where men reach the edge of reason.

What follows are excerpts from the cockpit voice recorder transcript, as provided by the National Transportation and Safety Board (NTSB), with the voices of pilot Noel English, co-pilot Loren Hammer and flight mechanic Melvin Rowe. Also on board were US Army soldiers Lieutenant Colonel Michael McMahon, Chief Warrant Officer Travis Grogan and Specialist Harley Miller. Miller -- who had almost missed the flight -- was the only one to survive the crash, but he froze to death before the search teams could find him.

The transcript and recording start at 0318:37 (7:18:37 a.m. local time)

PILOT: I hope I'm goin' in the right valley.

CO-PILOT: That one or this one?

PILOT: I'm just gunna go up this one.

CO-PILOT: Well, we, we've never or at least I've never done this Farah.

PILOT: We'll just see where this leads.

CO-PILOT: Twenty seven million people in this country, boy, you wouldn't wouldn't guess that cause there just everybody's scattered out.

PILOT: Yeah.

PILOT: But I'm now I mean I was really surprised at how you can almost always look down and see somebody or somethin' er.

CO-PILOT: Yeah, yeah, there's seem to be dwellings just about every where you go.

CO-PILOT: Yeah this is fun!

PILOT: We're not suppose to be havin' fun though.

CO-PILOT: Exactly.

PILOT: No fun allowed god-(expletive).

CO-PILOT: It's supposed to be all work we can't enjoy any of it.

PILOT: Exactly.

CO-PILOT: Cause we're getting' paid too much to be havin' fun.

PILOT: You're god-(unintelligible) right.

...

MECHANIC: I don't know what we're gonna see, we don't normally go this route.

MALE PASSENGER: (expletive).

MECHANIC: Let me get out of the way.

MALE PASSENGER: Naw I'm alright.

MECHANIC: Get yourself a drink.

PILOT: All we want is to avoid seeing rock at twelve o'clock.

PILOT: (unintelligible).

CO-PILOT: Yeah you're an x-wing fighter Star Wars man!

PILOT: You're (expletive) right.

PILOT: This is fun!

...

PILOT: Okay, it's about time we're gunna start climbin' I do believe.

PILOT: Okay we're comin up to a box up here.

PILOT: Yeah I think this valley might peter out right up here.

CO-PILOT: Yeah it shows us ah you got about twelve I don't know thirty miles of ah higher altitude, then there's another valley in the general direction that we're going.

PILOT: Yeah, peters right on out.

PILOT: It was good while it lasted.

...

PILOT: Yeah. It'd be nice to get a real good through my MP3 player in here.

CO-PILOT: (expletive) yeah.

CO-PILOT: That'll be great.

PILOT: Phillip Glass or somethin' suitable new age'y.

CO-PILOT: No, we gotta have butt rock that's the only way to go. Quiet Riot, Twisted Sister.

...

PILOT: I swear to God they wouldn't pay me if they knew how much fun this was.

...

PILOT: Well let's kind of look and see if we've got any where we can pick our way thru. Doesn't really matter it's gunna spit us out down at the bottom anyway.

PILOT: Let's see find a notch over here.

PILOT: Yeah, if we have to go to fourteen for just a second it won't be too bad.

CO-PILOT: Yeah.

UNIDENTIFIED VOICE: Whoa, whoa!

UNIDENTIFIED VOICE: There you go.

CO-PILOT: Boy, it's a good thing we're not too heavy today I guess.

PILOT: Yeah, oh, I wouldn't have done this if we were at gross.

PILOT: We can always turn around up in here.

CO-PILOT: Yeah we could we could do a one eighty here if we had to.

PILOT: Come on baby, come on baby, you can make it.

MECHANIC: Okay, you guys are gunna make this right?

PILOT: Yeah h-h-I'm hopin'.

MECHANIC: Hope we don't have a downdraft comin' over that, dude.

(Sound similar to stall warning tone single beep)

MECHANIC: Got a way out?

PILOT: Yeah.

PILOT: We we can do a one eighty up in here.

MECHANIC: Yeah, I'd pick one side or the other to... ah.

PILOT: Drop a drop a quarter flaps.

PILOT: (expletive).

MECHANIC: Okay, yeah, you're... ah.

CO-PILOT: Yeah let's turn around.

PILOT: Yeah, drop a quarter flaps.

MECHANIC: Yeah you need to--ah--make a decision.

(Sound of heavy breathing starts)

PILOT: God (expletive)!

MECHANIC: Hundred, ninety knots, call off his airspeed for him (unintelligible).

(sound similar to stall warning starts and continues until end)

PILOT: Ah (expletive, expletive)!

MECHANIC: Call it off, help him out, call off his airspeed for him (unintelligible) butch.

CO-PILOT: You got ninety-five.

CO-PILOT: Ninety-five.

PILOT: Oh God!

PILOT: Oh (expletive)!

MECHANIC: We're goin' down.

UNIDENTIFIED VOICE: God!

UNIDENTIFIED VOICE: God!

(End of recording: 0350:00, 7.50 a.m. local time)

Source: National Transportation and Safety Board (NTSB)

Posted by Carl Robichaud on October 09, 2007 at 03:17 PM in Security, U.S. Policy |

TrackBack

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d8341d843653ef00e5508172818834

Listed below are links to weblogs that reference The joyride of Blackwater 61:

Comments

cheap rf gold

I always heard something from my neighbor that he sometimes goes to the internet bar to play the game which will use him some rf gold，
he usually can win a lot of rf online gold，
he let his friends all have some rf money，
his friends thank him very much for introducing them the rf cp, they will play the game and share their cheap rf gold

Posted by: cheap rf gold | January 19, 2009 at 11:27 PM

pkffdg

yoyooyoyoyoyoyoyooyoy

Posted by: pkffdg | January 30, 2009 at 06:27 AM

cheap 2moons gold

It is the 2moons dil which make me very happy these days, my brother says 2moons gold is his favorite games gold he likes

, he usually buy some 2moon dil to start his game and most of the time he will win the buy 2moons dil back and give me some cheap 2moons gold to play the game.

Posted by: cheap 2moons gold | February 24, 2009 at 01:59 AM

buy lindens

Do you know buy lindens? I like it.
My brother often go to the internet bar to buy second life linden and play it.
After school, He likes playing games using these cheap linden with his friends.
I do not like to play it. Because I think that it not only costs much money but also spend much time. One day, he give me many linden dollars and play the game with me.
I came to the bar following him and found secondlife money was so cheap. After that, I also go to play game with him.

Posted by: buy lindens | March 14, 2009 at 06:08 AM

lynn

Today, you can walk into Laptop parts many brick-and-mortar Laptop Acer AC Adapter electronics and computers retailers Gateway Laptop keyboard and expect to find laptop bargains. Toshiba Laptop keyboard They are just about everywhere. Dell Laptop AC Adapter Prices for bargain laptops have become so low that walking out of a store with one for yourself and Liteon Laptop AC Adapter and one for a friend is even an option. Laptop LCD AC Adapter To save the most money Acer Aspire 1200 AC Adapter when buying a bargain laptop Liteon PA-1131-08 AC Adapter or notebook Gateway PA-1650-01 AC Adapter
Liteon PA-1650-01 AC Adapter
Toshiba Laptop AC Adapter
Toshiba PA3467U-1ACA AC Adapter
Original Gateway PA-1650-01 AC Adapter
Toshiba PA3469U-1ACA AC Adapter
Acer PA-1650-02 AC Adaptercomputer, though, Delta PA-1650-02 AC Adapter going through a major online retailer Liteon PA-1131-08 AC Adapter is the best way to save the most money. Dell Laptop battery that is very important.

Posted by: lynn | April 26, 2009 at 01:13 AM

sdfaf

We are sure that you will. 2GB MP3 PLAYER get really cheap wow gold by an instant. 4GB MP3 PLAYER way of deliveryJust place your order. canon digital camera to buy wow gold here and you will . cheap cell phones get your desired gold wow. cheap wow gold in a short whilein wow. cheap wow gold the gold is used by players to. dvd player repair virtual items. eve isk ,power leveling accounts. mp3 player buy pets,mount,synthesis equipment and so on. mp3 players There are many different ways that you can easily make the gold. portabel mp3 player buy wow gold is a quickly waysif. portable mp3 player you want to buy some weaponry. portable mp3 players , you need wow goldSuccessful . wow farmers make between 80-200g during a farming session. wow you can buy more wow gold from . wow gold us in one minuteSelect your account's realm. wow gold Alliance or Horde. wow gold then you can buy the cheapest wow goldChoose the amount of the wow gold you need and checkout. wow gold but wow gold is very easygamesavor offers. wow gold cheapest wow gold on all wow servers. wow gold kaufen cheap wow gold can be sent 24/7Buy gold from us is a fast. zubehoer mp3 player and safe way to get rich in the world of warcraft.

Posted by: sdfaf | June 10, 2009 at 03:07 AM

asdf

Professinal and lecteur mp3efficent service are waiting for you. 8GB MP3 PLAYER, Start your journey on gamesavor. clé cd. We are a group of dedicated players. gold wow, who have come together to provide wow gold and other game goodsyou can find the most cheapest. mp3 player. price for these seviceWe have a number of security for the cheapest gold. wow acc, Due to our large wow. wow authentication. gold stock on World of Warcraft-US servers we can guarantee instant . wow card. & complete delivery of your . wow compte. wow GoldIf we can not deliver the wow gold in limitative time. wow europe, we will refund your payment. wow gold, please . wow gold. do contact our customer service as soon as possible . wow gold. after you purchased for payment . wow gold kaufen.. confirmation, and it will make your wow gold delivered faster. wow oro, Welcome to our wow gold store. wrath of lich king, Here you can find. a reliable wow gold provider.

Posted by: asdf | June 10, 2009 at 03:13 AM

asdf


Choose the amount of the wow gold you need and checkout. 1GB MP3 PLAYER, but wow gold is very easygamesavor offers cheapest wow gold on all wow servers. 1GB MP3 PLAYER, cheap wow gold can be sent 24/7. 1gb mp3 players. Buy gold from us is a fast and safe way to get rich . 2GB MP3 PLAYER. in the world of warcraft. 60 70 wow, Come on we have fixed the. best mp3 player. best price so you can buy cheap . burning crusade key, wow gold here. buy mp3 player. Our professional fellows work hard . buy mp3 players, and strive to make the price of wow gold lowestJoin us . cheap mp3 player, and get your cheapest wow gold now. cheap mp3 players. You will enjoy our first-class. mp3 mp4 player. service and save more at . mp3 player 2gb video, our wow gold online store. mp3 player wholesale. We have a success experience. mp4 player, to sell cheap wow gold for years. mp4 players, we have available stock. world of warcraft authentication keys, on most of the servers. world of warcraft key. We have been a paypal . world of warcraft keys. confirmed seller of wow gold for yearsit is securest and safest to buy cheap wow gold from usGold is the main currency in world of warcraft.

Posted by: asdf | June 10, 2009 at 03:31 AM

asdf


Do not hesitate! Just place your order . burning crusade cd key on our site and we will send wow gold to you in a short time and you can get . burning crusade key the wow gold very safelywish you can enjoy your wonderful. key wotlk wow life!buy cheap wow gold. lich king gamesavor is your first choice. lich wow We are a professional wow gold seller with plenty of wow gold stored. lich wow in our online wow gold shopDo not hesitate. need wow ! Just place your order on our site and we will send. world of warcraft cd keys wow gold to you in a short time and you can get. wow burning crusade key the wow gold very safelywish you can enjoy. wow cd key your wonderful wow life!buy cheap wow gold, gamesavor is your. wow key first choiceWe are sure that you will. wow keys get really cheap wow gold by an instant way of delivery. wow of the lich king Just place your order to buy wow gold. wow wrath of lich king here and you will . wrath king get your desired gold wow in a short whilein wow. wrath lich king the gold is used by players to repair virtual items. wrath of lich king power leveling accounts buy pets,mount,synthesis equipment and so on. wrath of the lich There are many different ways . wrath of the lich king wow that you can easily make the gold buy wow gold is a quickly ways.

Posted by: asdf | June 10, 2009 at 03:34 AM

luohongyan

Japanese regulatorswow goldordered Citibank on Fridaywow goldto suspend all saleswow goldoperations in itswow goldretail banking divisionwow goldfor a month startingwow goldJuly 15 because thewow goldlender had failedwow goldto make notification of wow goldto make notification of wow goldincluding wow goldmoney laundering.”

Posted by: luohongyan | July 03, 2009 at 05:38 AM

wd

Bloggers are often abandoning or completely ignoring e-mail as a tool to deliver their content to their readerswow goldAs an RSS evangelist I certainly believe in
using RSS to get your content to the worldwow goldbut only as a supplement to e-mail delivery.wow goldWhile RSS provides us with many unique benefitswow goldit is yet to reach mainstream adoptionwow goldUntil it doeswow goldwow goldor risk ignoring most of their potential
readership.wow goldwow gold If you're still wondering why you need e-mailconsider the potential you might be wasting withoutitwow gold eurwould like to be notified as new content of interest becomes availablewow gold eur title="wow gold">wow goldIf you fail to capture his e-mail address and consent at that exact moment

Posted by: wd | July 20, 2009 at 01:03 AM

cheap jordan shoes

Thank you for your article, the contents of the following which you will like.Cheap Jordan shoes,UGG Boots, Nike SB,Tiffany Rings, Nike Dunk,Tiffany Jewelry for Sale.Who is also a useful information: Nike Dunk SB,Nike SB for Sale ,Gucci Shoes,Christian Louboutin,Bose headphones.

Posted by: cheap jordan shoes | July 23, 2009 at 05:49 AM

vivienne

Yes,great.I love the article, I have the same belief with you,so let me introduce the area to you.Now vivienne Jewellery become more and more popular within all kind of people. Juicy couture is a kind of juicy jewelry . It won a good reputation. Vivienne westwood Jewellery often held its regular discount activities,such as vivienne Jewellery ,fashion juicy jewelry and fashion vivienne westwood jewellery earrings so on.In these activities vivienne westwood sale got great success. juicy couture consists of four main aspects, vivienne westwood necklaces and vivienne westwood bracelets,fashion vivienne westwood ,vivienne westwood jewellery.

vivienne westwood series are worthwhile than other fashion jewelry coutures. They have a lot of fashion vivienne jewellery,for example fashion vivienne westwood necklaces, fashion vivienne earrings, fashion vivienne bracelets , vivienne westwood rings and vivienne westwood on sale. Vivienne jewellery is a new jewellery brand,it include all fashion jewellery ,such as westwood jewellery , vivienne westwood necklaces, vivienne westwood jewellery ,vivienne westwood and fashion vivienne westwood and vivienne westwood sale so on .We assure you of our best services at all times.

Posted by: vivienne | July 24, 2009 at 04:15 AM

luyisifdfdfwe

That you say is useful,thank you !if you have time ,please visit my site:

LV M40115

LV M41137

LV M42227

LV M41534

LV M47280.

LV M51129

LV M51153

LV N61740

LV N51173

LV N55216

LV N60018

Posted by: luyisifdfdfwe | August 03, 2009 at 10:00 PM

designer handbags
designer handbags In online designer handbags store, many handbags for sale and sale discount bags. There the customers can purchase chanel 2.55 , prada canvas and Louis Vuitton Monogram Speedy 30.Because these handbags are the best ones there. Except for these, bagsvendor.com is a handbags sale online retail. For Chanel designer handbags, there are chanel a29500, chanel a31505, chanel logo tote, chanel a26710, chanel 2.55 pink and special one(black chanel bag with white logo). As we know chanel is a famous brand, so bagsvendor.com has many item for this chanel designer handbags. For Gucci designer handbags, we can find gucci sacking, gucci 209600 and pink chanel logo. Oh, sorry, this pink chanel logo is for chanel. And also we find other brands designer handbags, such as coach(coach 10125, prada jacquard canvas, coach 10619); fendi(fendi 2237). Thanks for everyone purchasing designer handbags from bagsvendor.com. And remember that we offer free shipping service. Thanks...

Posted by: designer handbags | August 08, 2009 at 02:04 PM

酒店經紀爆米花

　“胡一刀，曲池喝花酒，天樞！苗人鳳酒店喝酒 ，地倉，合谷！個嘶啞的嗓子低沉地叫暑假打工 著。叫聲中充滿著怨毒寒假打工 和憤怒，語聲從酒店小姐 牙齒縫中迸出來，似是酒店兼職 千年万年、永恒的咒禮服店 ，每一個字音上涂著血和仇恨。 突突突突四酒店經紀 聲響，四道金光酒店兼差，四枝金鏢連珠發出，射向兩塊木牌。木牌的酒店 正面反面都繪著一個全身人酒店經紀人 形，一塊上繪的是個濃髯粗豪的大漢，旁注“胡一刀”三字；另一塊上繪的是個瘦長漢子，旁注“苗人鳳”三字，人形上書明人体周身穴酒店現領。木牌下面接有一柄，兩個身手矯捷的壯漢各持一牌，在練武廳中滿廳游走東北角一張椅子中坐著酒店經紀爆米花個五十來歲的白發婆婆，口中喊著胡一刀或苗人鳳穴道的名稱。一個二十來歲的英俊少年勁裝結束，鏢囊中酒店經紀帶著十几枝金鏢，听得那婆婆喊出穴道名稱，右手打工揚，就是一道金光射出，釘向木牌。兩個持牌壯漢頭戴鋼絲罩子兼差上身穿了厚棉襖再罩牛皮背心，唯恐少年失了准頭，金鏢招呼到他們身上。兩人竄高伏低，酒店打工擺木牌，要讓他酒店上班不易打中。 大廳外的窗口，伏著一個少女假日打工一個青年漢子。兩人在窗紙上挖破了兩個小孔，各用台北酒店經紀右眼湊著向里偷窺。兩人見那少年身手不凡，發鏢甚准，不由酒店pt 互相對望了一眼，臉上酒店pt都露出訝异的神色。
　　天空黑沉酒店應酬 沉的堆滿了烏云。大雨傾盆而下，夾著一陣陣的電閃雷轟，勢道嚇人粉味。黃豆大的雨點打在地下，直濺到窗外兩酒店經紀PRETTY GIRL少年男女酒店經濟 的身上。　們都身披油布雨衣，對廳上的事很感好奇酒店經濟再湊眼到窗洞上去看時，只听得那婆婆打工兼差道：“准頭還可將就，就是沒勁儿，今日就練到這里。”說著慢慢禮服店站起身來。

Posted by: 酒店經紀爆米花 | August 08, 2009 at 05:43 PM

wholesale

As the Christmas season is approaching, China wholesale becomes the trend. Yiwu is the biggest export for Christmas ornaments in the globe. Foreign businessmen come to Yiwu market to buy wholesale lots. Knowing that wholesale from China is a wise choice, they are satisfied. What's more, if you enjoy online wholesale, you may come to ChinaAmanda. For promotional gifts, for dollar items, for shoes wholesale, and for all your Chinese wholesale goods needs. Welcome to attend Yiwu Fair, if you need Yiwu Agent, please feel free to contact us.

Posted by: wholesale | August 19, 2009 at 03:22 AM

Next »

Verify your Comment

Previewing your Comment

Posted by:  | 

This is only a preview. Your comment has not yet been posted.

Working...
Your comment could not be posted. Error type:
Your comment has been posted. Post another comment

The letters and numbers you entered did not match the image. Please try again.

As a final step before posting your comment, enter the letters and numbers you see in the image below. This prevents automated programs from posting comments.

Having trouble reading this image? View an alternate.

Working...

Post a comment