Damaged Helicopter Nearly Doomed U.S. Raid To Capture Venezuela’s Maduro

President Trump hailed the mission to seize Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro as a “perfectly executed” demonstration of U.S. military strength.

That public description, however, omitted critical moments that highlighted how perilous the raid became as American forces closed in on Maduro’s heavily defended compound; and how narrowly the mission avoided disaster, according to a Wednesday New York Times report.

A U.S. military helicopter took damage and fought to remain airborne above Caracas, throwing the entire American operation into jeopardy, according to the report.

In the pre-dawn hours of Saturday, U.S. Army helicopters flew just 100 feet above the ocean before sweeping over Venezuela’s capital, racing toward their objective. Their approach was concealed by a U.S. cyber operation that plunged Caracas into darkness, alongside radar-avoiding American fighter jets that struck Venezuela’s Russian-made air defense systems.

At first, the helicopters, carrying dozens of elite Army Delta Force commandos, advanced without being detected.

That changed as they neared Maduro’s compound. The aircraft came under fire and returned it. The lead helicopter in the assault, a massive twin-rotor MH-47 Chinook, was hit but managed to stay airborne. According to current and former U.S. officials speaking anonymously due to the sensitivity of the mission, the flight leader – who also designed the operation and was piloting the Chinook – was wounded three times in the leg.

As the crippled helicopter fought to stay aloft long enough to deploy its troops, the outcome of the entire mission, known as Absolute Resolve, hung in the balance. The operation involved more than 150 aircraft launched from 20 separate land and sea bases across the region.