what is extortion 17

Extortion 17 was the call sign of a United States Boeing CH-47 Chinook helicopter that was shot down in Afghanistan on August 6, 2011. The helicopter was carrying 30 American military servicemen and a U.S. military dog, all of whom were killed in the attack. The incident remains the greatest single loss of life to Naval Special Warfare since the Afghan War started in 2001. The downing of Extortion 17 spurred a number of conspiracy theories, such as the idea that the shootdown was revenge for the killing of Osama bin Laden three months earlier. However, these theories have been debunked. The incident has been the subject of a book by Don Brown called "Call Sign Extortion 17: The Shoot-Down of SEAL Team Six".