Photo caption misrepresents details of US helicopter mission in Afghanistan

An old photo of a U.S. military helicopter mission in Afghanistan is being shared on Facebook with a caption that misrepresents what is pictured.

The caption on the April 3 post says the photo shows a helicopter rescue mission where wounded men were loaded onboard. In the photo, a helicopter hovers at the edge of a small building, with the rear of the aircraft resting on the roof of the structure, while people standing on the roof appear to load items inside the helicopter.

The caption says, "This photo was taken by a soldier in Afghanistan of a helicopter rescue mission. The pilot is a PA National Guard guy who flies EMS choppers in civilian life. Now how many people on the planet you reckon could set the ass end of a chopper down on the rooftop of a shack, on a steep mountain cliff, and hold it there while soldiers load wounded men in the rear. If this does not impress you … nothing ever will …"

The post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)

But that’s not what was happening when the photo was taken in 2003, according to a 2015 interview with the Chinook helicopter pilot, Larry Murphy.

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Murphy said his unit was helping to evacuate prisoners.

"The only place to land was basically this house on the side of a mountain. … I don’t remember thinking it was going to be any substantial challenge."

Murphy said a combat cameraman was embedded with the unit, and the photos of the operation went viral, with many people questioning whether it was real.

But the flight team was very experienced, and "something that looks extremely difficult was really just kind of routine," Murphy said.

We rate the claim that a photo shows a helicopter rescue mission where wounded men were loaded onboard False.