Bagram, Afghanistan — A C-130 Hercules from the New York Air National Guard flies over mountainous Afghan terrain on its way to delivering much-needed supplies to a forward operating base in Oruzgan Province, Afghanistan, June 22. The New York ANG C-130 flew the airdrop mission in conjunction with another C-130 from the Alaska ANG. Airdrops help mitigate the danger of transporting supplies via convoy. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Krista Rose.)
The Pentagon announced today the death of two soldiers who were supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.The two soldiers were killed when an aircraft went down.
Oddly the Pentagon refuses to say exactly “what type of aircraft” crashed in Bagram resulting in the deaths of two soldiers? This reeks of a cover-up. It also makes the incident impossible to really investigate…
According to the release:
“They died Jan. 10, at Bagram Airfield, in Parwan Province, Afghanistan, of injuries sustained when the aircraft they were aboard crashed. The incident is under investigation.
Killed were:
Chief Warrant Officer Andrew L. McAdams, 27, of Cheyenne, Wyo., assigned to Detachment 53, Operational Support Airlift Command, Joint Force Headquarters, Wyoming Army National Guard, Cheyenne, Wyo.
Sgt. Drew M. Scobie, 25, of Kailua, Hawaii, assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 1st Battalion, 487th Field Artillery, Wahiawa, Hawaii Army National Guard, Oahu, Hawaii” (source: DOD http://www.defense.gov/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=16489).
Bagram Airfield (ICAO: OAIX) is the largest U.S. military base in Afghanistan. It is located next to the ancient city of Bagram, 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) southeast of Charikar in the Parwan Province of Afghanistan. The airfield features a dual runway capable of handling any size military aircraft, including Lockheed Martin C-5 Galaxy and Antonov An-225.
The base is mainly occupied by the U.S. Armed Forces, the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and minimally by the military of Afghanistan.
We called the Pentagon press office to inquire about the incident, specifically asking what type of aircraft crashed – officials indicated “no comment” in response to that question. We also called both media contact numbers listed on the release (Information on McAdams, media may contact the Wyoming National Guard public affairs office at (307) 631-4153. For more information on Scobie, media may contact the Hawaii National Guard public affairs office at (808) 388-5986.) and official “parroted” the information in the Department of Defense press release.
No one I talked to regarding this incident was willing to discuss what type of aircraft crashed or speculated on the cause.
We speculate that since the Pentagon specifically used the term “aircraft” they were not talking about a helicopter.
