at 1:20am ast on 26 january 2005 a ch-53e super stallion helicopter (164536), code named sampson 22 from marine heavy helicopter squadron 361 (hmh-361) was ferrying a platoon of u.s. marines from the 3rd marine division in al-anbar province, iraq near the town of ar-rutbah, about seventy miles from the jordanian border when it encountered a sandstorm.