Posted on 09/11/2014 10:14:12 PM PDT by traumer
U.S. troops occasionally have to land their aircraft unexpectedly, giving rise to awkward situations. Consider the case of a transport plane that landed on an African highway in July while carrying U.S. troops, prompting a sheepish Marine colonel to apologize for the commotion.
Even that appears to pale in comparison to the unexpected landing of numerous Army helicopters in Poland on Tuesday, however. Bloomberg News reports that six of them landed in a rapeseed field in the village of Gruta, some 140 miles north of Warsaw, and asked villagers where they were. The surprise landing spooked some people at first, said Halina Kowalkowska, the village’s head, in an interview with Bloomberg.
“We know that security is the most important thing right now,” Kowalkowska told Bloomberg. “But thank God it was the Americans.”
The Associated Press reports that 12 helicopters in total, including Black Hawks and Chinooks, made a surprise landing due to poor visibility and stormy weather. A Polish army spokesman, Lt. Col. Artur Golawski, told the AP that the aircraft were returning from a military exercise, Saber Junction, in Lithuania to their temporary base in Miroslawiec, Poland. Bad weather forced them to land, the AP said.
A U.S. Army spokeman at the Pentagon referred comment to Army officials in Europe. They could not immediately be reached for comment. The helicopters appear to have turned into a tourist attraction of sorts, however:
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
... and asked villagers where they were.
LOST ?
“Thank God it was the Americans.”
Incredible.
if in fact the objective of this landing was to inspire local confidence in u.s military commitment to the region I am convinced in fact the effect in this era of GPS might have been the opposite.
But u have to admit it’s very, very “Obamesque”.
I think a few people actually like to encounter a foreign military on their own soil this way, even between friendly countries.
Not quite, the call sign Extortion 17 was already taken.
Why am I reminded of that old Monte Python gag .. “I told him we already have one.”? :)
Now there's something you don't hear very often anymore.....
I’m glad it turned out this way, if the occurrence had to happen. The pilots will have some splainin to do when they get home, but the officers in charge must’ve been friendly, diplomatic and appropriately humble in that Polish town.
Probably someone cracked a joke about “where are we?” and it was overheard. They landed due to the weather or did you miss that part?
Sounds like someone forgot to update their Garmins.
A generation of Polish villagers will be laughing at Amerilack jokes.
Based upon the Polish people I’ve known I’ll bet they were treated well.
Yep. I bet they were too. With open arms.
I wonder if dead reckoning navigation was part of the exercise? The services are aware of their excessive dependence on GPS and want to be sure that they can operate in a “GPS denied” environment. In bad weather (even with GPS) they might not have been able to find the airfield and took advantage of a break in the clouds to put down safely.
The polish folks are great party people. A polish wedding party should be on every bodies bucket list.
Obama’s army lost in Poland! LOL!
Had this been in the ROK, a food tent selling hot Ramen would have been set up before the rotors stopped spinning on the chopper.
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