MH-6 helicopter key part of 'Black Hawk Down' rescue

Although a low-profile product due to its Special Forces customer, the Mesa-built MH-6 'Little Bird' helicopter was featured in the book and movie "Black Hawk Down," which depict the firefight in the streets of Mogadishu in 1993 in which Americans were under fire and rescued. During that summer, elements of the U.S. Army's 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment from Ft. Campbell, Ky., were deployed to Somalia. They took with them an unspecified number of MH-6 Little Bird helicopters. On a mission to insert Special Forces during the search for a Somali warlord on Oct. 3, the regiment lost five crewmen and two MH-60 Black Hawk helicopters to hostile ground fire in Mogadishu. Other aircrews tried to rescue the downed comrades. In one of many rescue missions, a Boeing MH-6 Little Bird landed near the wreckage of an MH-60 in a narrow street. Under intense ground fire, the MH-6 took off with a survivor holding on to the skids. The Boeing Light Helicopter operation was sold to a Dutch company in 1999, which now markets the helicopter line under the banner of MD Helicopters Inc., a privately held company.

Boeing MH-6 Little Bird landed near the wreckage of an MH-60 in a narrow street. Under intense ground fire, the MH-6 took off with a survivor holding on to the skids