Rich Krell, pilot of the helicopter Williams was riding in back in 2003, says their chopper was indeed being hit by small arms fire and another Chinook in their group was hit by an RPG.
- Feb 6, 2015
AceShowbiz - Brian Williams reportedly faces an opposition from his own senior and predecessor Tom Brokaw following his fake story about a helicopter attack in Iraq in 2003. An NBC source says, "Brokaw wants Williams' head on a platter. He is making a lot of noise at NBC that a lesser journalist or producer would have been immediately fired or suspended for a false report."
"Tom Brokaw and [former NBC News President] Steve Capus knew this was a false story for a long time and have been extremely uncomfortable with it," the source continues telling New York Post's Page Six.
However, his position is still safe now as a network source allegedly says, "He is not going to be suspended or reprimanded in any way. He has the full support of NBC News." The insider says the network is "taking it very seriously," but they "believe that Brian's apology on the air speaks for himself. He admitted over time he conflated the events."
While Williams keeps receiving backlash over his inaccurate statement about the helicopter attack, the pilot of the Chinook helicopter that Williams was riding in back in 2003 has come forward with a detailed account of the incident that supports the Nightly News anchor's story.
The pilot, former chief warrant officer Rich Krell, told CNN, "Mr. Williams was on board my aircraft. We took small arms fire. All I know is one RPG was fired. It struck the lead aircraft, which was about what we call six rotor disks in front of me."
Those incoming bullets "struck the belly up in the forward cabin area and one or two other side hits, but it didn't cause any major damage, just some minor damage to electronic components," he added. "The door gunners were returning fire. M60s (machine guns) are very loud. The pings of the bullets hitting us...there were only a few, but it's a distinct sound."
"Some of things he's said are not true. But some of the things they're saying against him are not true either," Krell went on defending Williams after another soldier, Sgt. 1st Class Joseph Miller, who was the flight engineer on the aircraft that carried the journalists told Stars and Stripes, "No, we never came under direct enemy fire to the aircraft."
The military newspaper earlier also reported that "Williams arrived in the area about an hour later on another helicopter after the other three had made an emergency landing, the crew members said."
Krell additionally stressed that Williams' claim that his helicopter came under attack and was hit "is a true statement," adding, "We were all scared. That's the truth...He was there at the time of the attack."
Williams was caught lying about how he was on a helicopter being hit by an RPG in Iraq in 2003 after Lance Reynolds, who was the flight engineer on the helicopter, wrote on Facebook, "Sorry dude, I don't remember you being on my aircraft. I do remember you walking up about an hour after we had landed to ask me what had happened."
The 55-year-old journalist then apologized for his mistake, writing on his own Facebook, "You are absolutely right and I was wrong. In fact, I spent much of the weekend thinking I'd gone crazy. I feel terrible about making this mistake, especially since I found my OWN WRITING about the incident from back in '08, and I was indeed on the Chinook behind the bird that took the RPG in the tail housing just above the ramp."
