This is part one of a three part series. Read part two and part three.

by MATT CETTI-ROBERTS

On Aug. 12, Iraqi air force general Majid Ashour was at the controls of a Mi-17 transport helicopter, bound for Mount Sinjar to supply Yezidi refugees fleeing Islamic State’s bloody onslaught across northern Iraq.

Ashour was in charge of the airlift effort delivering aid and evacuating civilians from the besieged mountain. He also insisted on personally flying missions to Sinjar.

The Aug. 12 flight would be Ashour’s last.

While trying to take a load of evacuees off the mountain after dropping off aid, Ashour’s helicopter crashed. It’s unclear why—it could have been a technical problem or pilot error.

The crash made headlines because two New York Times journalists—reporter Alissa Rubin and freelance photographer Adam Ferguson—were on board the copter and both sustained injuries.

Miraculously, Ashour was the only fatality. The New York Times’ story about the incident claimed—incorrectly—that a Kurdish Peshmerga crew was flying the helicopter. In fact, the Iraqi air force has been responsible for moving aid to the mountain and people off it.

And as Ashour’s death demonstrates, it’s a dangerous responsibility. I learned that firsthand when I rode the Sinjar Express in December.

Although thousands of refugees made it off Mount Sinjar in a highly publicized exodus—some escaping by air, others fleeing on foot to Syria with the help of PKK and YPG fighters—thousands of refugees remain on the mountain. It’s hard to know how many. Estimates range from 2,000 to 8,000 people.

The route the PKK had been using to evacuate refugees and resupply their forces was captured by Islamic State this fall.

Now the only way to get on or off the mountain is via an Iraqi air force helicopter.

Those who remain on the mountain are a mix of refugees who were unable to escape and those Yezidis who refused to leave. Many Yezidi volunteer fighters stayed behind to protect sacred shrines from militants bent on desecrating them. Along with the Yezidi fighters, there’s a force of PKK guerillas and a detachment of Peshmerga troops.

Relations between the groups can be touchy. Although the helicopters are here to help the Kurds, they answer to commanders in Baghdad. Some of the Peshmerga tell us that Baghdad has occasionally grounded the helicopters during disagreements between Kurdish and Iraqi leaders.

With the war against the militants raging across Iraq, demands on Iraq’s helicopter fleet are wide-ranging. There is only a handful of helicopters supporting refugees and troops on Sinjar. Sometimes they have to divert to assist Iraqi troops fighting in other areas.

And to make matters worse, the winter weather in Iraq’s mountainous north often disrupts flight plans.