the 2005 al-anbar ch-53e crash refers to an aviation accident which occurred on january 26, 2005 when a united states marine corps ch-53e super stallion helicopter crashed while ferrying u.s. military personnel in the al-anbar province of western iraq, near the town of ar-rutbah. all thirty-one troops aboard the helicopter died in the crash which made it the deadliest single incident for u.s. troops during the iraq war. the accident took place while coalition forces were trying to secure the country ahead of the january 2005 iraqi parliamentary election slated to take place later that month. the cause of the crash was determined to be the pilots becoming disoriented when they flew into a sandstorm