CIA restores Mi-17 that flew to Afghanistan after 9/11 in the US — CBS News
In the United States, the Central Intelligence Agency has restored an Mi-17 helicopter that delivered the first group of CIA officers to Afghanistan’s Panjshir Valley on September 26, 2001, following the September 11 attacks. The aircraft is now displayed near CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia. CBS News reports on the operation and the helicopter’s restoration.
The group of seven CIA officers was code-named JAWBREAKER. It arrived in the Panjshir Valley 15 days after the attacks, carrying millions of dollars in cash to recruit and equip Afghan allies. Its tasks included gathering intelligence and preparing for the US campaign against al-Qaeda and the Taliban, including strengthening contacts with the Northern Alliance.
A helicopter for inconspicuous flights
The CIA acquired the Mi-17 in the 1990s because its Soviet origin allowed it to blend in in the region: such aircraft were used by both the Northern Alliance and the Taliban. On the way to the Panjshir Valley, the crew crossed the Anjuman Pass, at an altitude of approximately 14,500 feet above sea level.
There was no transponder on board for identification by US aircraft. Therefore, the markings USA and an American flag were applied to the upper parts of the stabilizers, visible to friendly pilots in the air but not from the ground. Due to the lack of blue paint, the flag was left unfinished. The helicopter was also given the call sign “9-11-01” and flew more than 300 missions in Afghanistan before its service ended in 2012.
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Operation Team Alpha
On October 17, 2001, former CIA officer David Tyson, as part of Team Alpha, was deployed to another part of northern Afghanistan. The team worked with the forces of Uzbek leader Abdul Rashid Dostum in the campaign against the Taliban and al-Qaeda. The Americans traveled through the mountains on horseback together with Afghan fighters, sometimes spending up to 14 hours a day in the saddle.
On November 25, Tyson and his colleague Johnny Michael “Mike” Spann entered the Qala-i-Jangi fortress near Mazar-i-Sharif, where hundreds of foreign fighters who had surrendered were being held. That same day, the prisoners launched an uprising. Spann, who was 32, was killed and became the first American killed in combat in Afghanistan. Tyson left the fortress with his rifle and used it until the end of his deployment; it is now kept in the CIA museum.
After its final mission, the Mi-17 was delivered to CIA headquarters in 2018. Over the past year, specialists sealed holes in the fuselage and painted the helicopter, seeking to recreate its appearance in 2001. They also restored the number “607” — the call sign of the Afghan pilot who made the first flight.
