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Blackwater 61

June 27, 2010 5:00 PM

"Blackwater 61" is the call sign of a plane flown by the embattled government contractor Blackwater that crashed into a mountain in Afghanistan killing all onboard. The widow of one of the soldiers killed, a pilot herself, says the firm was negligent in the way it operated the flight. Steve Kroft reports.

The Flight and Crash of "Blackwater 61"
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by csmrtaylor July 7, 2010 9:07 AM EDT
I was supposed to be on that trip. I agree they should not have been in that valley. I agree with the family.
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by PhoenixJT July 1, 2010 12:13 PM EDT
Thank you for giving this story some air time. Jeremy Scahill's book Blackwater, which was first published in 2007, included this story with the pilots comments as well.
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by ctrnj June 30, 2010 11:28 AM EDT
Without your investigation, exposing the candid videos that Col. McMahon had not seen and was astonished by, these poor widows would be in court or negotiating with Blackwater for the next 10 years or more. Prior to your investigation Blackwater seemed to be unrelenting in admitting their responsibility. That was an ugly attempt to blame Lt. Col. McMahon, saying that at Lt. Col. McMahon's request they changed the route. What an out right lie. It's interesting is how they acquiesed immediately after your exposure of what really happened. How dare they not approach the widows and families to express their condolences. The all mighty dollar seems to come before humankind. And to boot the government incredibly renewed their contract. WHY? I'm wondering why U.S. armed forces didn't transport Lt. Col. McMahon, may he R.I.P. Only in America.
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by rtmcgowan June 28, 2010 6:40 PM EDT
Your story misses the point. Why was a U.S. Army officer flying with mercenaries? Who in the logistics command was fired because they could not supply transportation cheaper than a for-profit organization? Who got paid off so that war profiteers could make huge profits doing the Army's job?
The Normandy invasion during World War II was the largest amphibious assault in history. What for-profit organizations were involved? The Iraq war of Bush 2 involved as many mercenaries as U.S. servicemen. What's wrong with this picture?
President Eisenhower warned us about the military-industrial complex. His granddaughter tells us that he wanted to label this as the military-industrial-congressional complex. Taking something of value for a vote constitutes a bribe. Is a campaign contribution not something of value?
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by tomhodde June 28, 2010 4:57 PM EDT
The blackwater 61 incident should have never happen. The tapes show how relaxed the pilots where. As a retired 25 year veteren pilot flying in all kind of weather and terrain, you must always stay focused of your surrondings, position and environment ahead instead of sightseeing. Unless you are flying a high perfomance aircraft as I did (Learjet) you don't fly into mountain caveren areas, which can causes a 30 to 60 percent loss of performance, especially when the terrain ahead is rising, as the video showed.
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by NavyFrogman June 28, 2010 12:10 PM EDT
This is such a tragic story. These young boys do not have a father because the pilot did not bother to prepare in advance of his flight. His comments about having too much fun to really deserve to be paid is very telling. I admire his wife and pray for her as she raises their three young boys. She blew me away with her intelligence and lack of apparent animosity for Blackwater. I'm just glad that Blackwater is no longer owned by Prince and no longer has the shoot first mentality.
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by Philflysdone June 28, 2010 10:36 AM EDT
Why is a civilian contractor flying our military in a war zone? What happened to the U. S. Air Force?Why is the same outfit guarding VIP's
in a war zone? What happened to the U. S. Marine Corps? The answer of course is GREED. Who in Washington is getting rich by giving million dollar contracts to "Blackwater"? once again the taxpayer is getting the shaft!
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by davidperi June 28, 2010 1:05 AM EDT
So with another millions in contracts...BP continues. But, why is Prince trying to sell the company and moving out of the U.S. to Emirates? Because the Emirates do not have an ex-try-diction law with the U.S. so Prince cannot be responsible.
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