On 3 October 1993, the US forces thought that the opportunity to capture Aidid had at last arrived. They went to a run down building in Mogadishu where they believed that a meeting was taking place and that Aidid would be present.
The plan was that Delta Force would enter the building while the Rangers provided cover outside. Although Delta Force captured 24 prisoners, who were supporters of Aidid, they did not capture their intended target.
Again their intelligence was wrong, and Aidid was nowhere to be found.
The crew of Super 64 a month before the Battle of Mogadishu. From left: Winn Mahuron, Tommy Field, Bill Cleveland, Ray Frank and Mike Durant.
The Rangers’ raid on the building was backed up by a missile attack from the Black Hawks. Once the attack was underway, Aidid’s forces rounded up supporters including armed civilians who in the chaos and confusion thought that they were also under attack.
Then the first of the Black Hawk helicopters was shot down, and this became the defining moment of the battle. The helicopter was sent into a spin while a second one was damaged but managed to remain flying. The pilot and crew of the damaged helicopter were soon on their way to the site of the crashed helicopter.
A convoy of US soldiers was also making their way to the crash through the streets where fighting had broken out. Very soon news came that another helicopter was down. The convoy rescued those they could from the scene of the initial crash before continuing to the site of the second.
The following day the US soldiers were evacuated from the crash sites and taken to a UN base. The casualties were high. Of the American task force, 18 soldiers had been killed, and 73 were injured. Also, the pilot of one of the Black Hawk helicopters had been taken prisoner.
