Soil and warfare

Abstract

In 1980, soil caused the failure of a military mission with national consequences. Attempting to rescue its hostages in Iran, the United States launched a covert operation to liberate the captives and free itself from a difficult international situation. In this event, dusts obscuring effect had a tragic consequence at Desert One, the missions forward operating base. Trying to organize the chaotic situation on the Iranian desert floor at night, a helicopter received permission to move; but rather than taxiing to the prescribed position, the aircraft lifted off. The pilot should have known from a similar experience minutes earlier that the dust created by his own prop-wash would hinder his ability to see until he could rise above the cloud. Despite this knowledge, the helicopter was immediately lost in a cloud of dust, and the combat controller, a ground guide meant to assist him, could not see. The airborne soil so effectively blocked the pilots vision that the helicopter drifted left about twenty-five feet off the deck and struck a transport aircraft, which caused a massive fireball that killed eight servicemen and led to the missions demise (Kyle 1990).