2011 Chinook shootdown in Afghanistan On 6 August 2011 , a U . S . Boeing CH - 47 Chinook military helicopter , call sign Extortion 17 , was shot down while transporting a quick reaction force attempting to reinforce an engaged unit of Army Rangers in Wardak province , west of Kabul , Afghanistan . The resulting crash killed all 38 people on board — 25 American special operations personnel , five United States Army National Guard and Army Reserve crewmen , seven Afghan commandos , and one Afghan interpreter — as well as a U . S . military working dog . It is considered the worst loss of U . S Military life in the Afghanistan campaign , surpassing Operation Red Wings in 2005 . Deaths . The deaths included : The 30 American deaths represent the greatest loss of U . S . military lives in a single incident in the decade - long war in Afghanistan that began in 2001 . Blow to U . S . Special Operations Forces . Of the Navy SEALs that were killed 15 were members of the Naval Special Warfare Development Group ( DEVGRU ) , also known as SEAL Team Six . This unit is also known for having carried out the Operation Neptune Spear , which resulted in the killing of Osama Bin Laden ; however , none of the SEALs killed participated in the operation . The other two Navy SEALs killed in the helicopter shootdown were from a West Coast - based SEAL unit . The five other Navy personnel were NSW support personnel . In addition to the NSW losses , three AFSOC operators died in the crash , one Combat Controller and two Pararescue men , all members of the 24th Special Tactics Squadron . Their deaths are the greatest single loss of life ever suffered by the U . S . Special Operations community in the 24 - year history of the U . S . Special Operations Command . A source from the Navy ' s special operations community described the reaction as , " Shock and disbelief . There ' s no precedent for this . It ' s the worst day in our history by a mile . " The previous highest U . S . death toll from a single incident in the war also came from a rocket attack on a Chinook helicopter carrying Navy SEALs during Operation Red Wings on 28 June 2005 . In that incident sixteen Navy SEALs and Army special operations troops were killed and three more SEALs were killed in fighting on the ground . Initial accounts . The U . S . military helicopter carrying special operations forces to a night - raid in the Tangi Valley of Wardak Province , was most likely brought down by a rocket - propelled grenade , according to military officials . General Abdul Qayum , the police chief of Wardak , said the military helicopter was shot down around 1 am Saturday after a U . S . night assault on a house in the village of Jaw - e - Mekh Zareen in the Tangi Valley that had lasted at least two hours . Local witnesses reported that at least two helicopters had taken part in the U . S . special forces attack on the compound , killing eight Afghan insurgents , but that just after the helicopter had taken off again it was fired upon from a separate position . Shahidullah Shahid , a spokesman for the provincial governor , said : " The US chopper that crashed last night was shot down by the Taliban as it was taking off . A rocket fired by the insurgents hit it and completely destroyed it . " A spokesman for the Taliban , Zabiullah Mujahid , confirmed that eight of the movement ' s fighters had been killed in the assault on the compound . He said : " They wanted to attack our Mujahideen who were in a house , but our Mujahideen resisted and destroyed a helicopter with a rocket - propelled grenade . " Later accounts . Subsequent reports stated that the U . S . military helicopter had been delivering reinforcements to U . S . Army Rangers , another special operations unit , when their night raid on a compound to kill or capture a senior Taliban leader went awry . During the battle US forces observed a small group of Taliban trying to flee the scene . The group probably contained the commander and a few of his bodyguards while the remaining Taliban fighters offered resistance in an effort to buy the group enough time to escape . In order to prevent this US forces called in for support . Other reports alleged that the Taliban had laid an elaborate trap for U . S . special operations forces , luring them in with false information . A senior Afghan government official , speaking anonymously , said that Taliban commander Qari Tahir had fed U . S . forces false information about a meeting of insurgent leaders and fighters waited for the helicopter from both sides of a steep valley : " The Taliban knew which route the helicopter would take . That ' s the only route , so they took position on either side of the valley on mountains and as the helicopter approached , they attacked it with rockets and other modern weapons . It was brought down by multiple shots . " In October 2011 , US Central Command ( CENTCOM ) announced that an investigation carried out following the shoot down concluded " that all operational decisions , linked to the incident , were deemed tactically sound " . The article states that the helicopter crashed after a RPG round impacted the aft rotor assembly . Subsequent events . On 10 August 2011 , the U . S . military claimed that the insurgent who fired the rocket - propelled grenade had been killed only two days afterward in a F - 16 airstrike , saying only that intelligence gained on the ground provided " a high degree of confidence " that the person was among those killed in the airstrike from two days earlier , but providing no other details . During the same Pentagon news conference in which he announced that the F - 16 airstrike had taken out " less than 10 " of the insurgents involved , International Security Assistance Force ( ISAF ) commander in Afghanistan John R . Allen said the military investigation into the helicopter downing would also review whether small arms fire or other causes might have contributed to the downing . Many of the men interviewed for the book " Fearless : The Undaunted Courage and Ultimate Sacrifice of Navy SEAL Team SIX Operator Adam Brown " by Eric Blehm perished in the crash . In 2013 Jason Chaffetz said he would hold an investigation of the United States House Oversight Subcommittee on National Security into the matter .