Apparently leaked information detailing exactly what went down from anonymous government source.
http://www.navytimes.com/news/2011/05/ap-raiders-knew-mission-a-one-shot-deal-051711/
http://jalopnik.com/5802701/massive-government-leak-reveals-intricate-details-of-bin-laden-raid
[b]SEAL Team 6 had some serious backup—and a war dog named Cairo: [/b]Five aircraft flew from Jalalabad, Afghanistan, with three school-bus-size Chinook helicopters landing in a deserted area roughly two-thirds of the way to bin Laden's compound in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad, two of the officials explained. Aboard two Black Hawk helicopters were 23 SEALs, an interpreter and a tracking dog named Cairo. Nineteen SEALs would enter the compound, and three of them would find bin Laden, one official said, providing the exact numbers for the first time.That stealth helicopter? Silent:
The Black Hawks were specially engineered to muffle the tail rotor and engine sound, two officials said. The added weight of the stealth technology meant cargo was calculated to the ounce, with weather factored in. The night of the mission, it was hotter than expected.That “hotter than expected” weather? Very bad:
The Black Hawk skittered around uncontrollably in the heat-thinned air, forcing the pilot to land. As he did, the tail and rotor got caught on one of the compound’s 12-foot walls. The pilot quickly buried the aircraft’s nose in the dirt to keep it from tipping over, and the SEALs clambered out into an outer courtyard.Blowing up the downed stealth chopper took longer than killing Bin Laden:
It took approximately 15 minutes to reach bin Laden, one official said. The next 23 or so were spent blowing up the broken chopper, after rounding up nine women and 18 children to get them out of range of the blast.
