Apaches emergency-landed in my county!

[Yohan]

Hey guys,

Thought I'd share my Veteran's Day Apache Long Bow Attack Helicopter experince with you all. I took Veteran's Day off, but went into the office to do a little work. While there, I heard dispatch send a couple of our units to a military helicopter that landed in a field off one of our highways. I figured it was one of the Apaches my son had called me about seeing a half hour prior. It was snowing pretty bad, so I figured he sat down because of weather or a mechanical problem.

So me and some Troopers and Deputies go out and here are five Apaches sitting in a field! What a sight. It was all I could do not to run out to see them. When my son saw them, they were flying low because of visibility and had been trying to get around the storm on their way from PA to Fort Drum. They couldn't make it so they landed. We gave them rides to the local fire station to get warm and wait out the storm.

I got to hear a couple good stories from them. I later called and asked if the offer to sit in one was still good for my kids and the pilot was A-OK with it. Regrettably, they had a weather break and left before we could get back up there to snap some pics in the cockpit. One of the pilots got my address and said he'd send my kids a package with some unit patches and such.

What an honor to meet them and a sight to see. Happy Veteran's Day to all the vets and thank God for our servicemen!

 

[engineer233]

I want one !!!!!!

 

[Ripcord01]

That is one very cool and awesome experience. Nothing like that ever happens here in this boring county. Besides the normal Crime.

 

[CanonNinja]

we had a local in the neighborhood get pinned recently, and did some low fly bys in the area for his kiddos.


i think he was harassing the HOA ladies as well for giving him **** about his lifted Kaiser in the driveway

 

[M813rc]

Glad to see they did the right thing and set them down when things were bad. Many birds get lost due to "get-home-itis", pressing on for home pad regardless of the odds stacked against them.
Grampa Pettibone would be proud of this flight leader! (Lets see who knows what THAT means..)

Cheers

 

[stampy]

Ok I had to Google that one....

 

[SouthernSteel]

Awesome experience what great pics love the shots man :]

 

[Flyingvan911]

"Excuse me sir. Where'd you get that Apache?" "Uuuuuum, it fell off a truck, officer."

Great pics. I'm glad they're ok.

 

[lindyp38]

great pics......thanks for sharing....

 

[JAYHAWK 1962]

Great story. Thanks for sharing.

 

[srodocker]

that is awesome!!!

 

[michigandon]

A few years ago, three Blackhawks and a Chinook landed at the local airfield in Napoleon, Michigan after doing a flyover as part of the opening ceremonies for an MIS race. Gobs of people flocked out there and they opened them up to the public! It was great to get "up close and personal" with the birds as well as chat with the crews.

 

[Capt Pat]

So somebody else reads the flight safety mags eh??? "Grampa Pettibone", and I'm not even from the aviation community, ""Fly Navy, Divers Need The Work". I read/read them to keep up with what I might have to face while swimming with them to pull a pilot from on that thinks its a submersible, or when salvaging whats left. But I'm also glad those days are over. The Navy dive community also has a saying about there being "Old Divers, and Bold Divers, But There Arn't Any Old Bold Divers"

 

[operator1]

Hey guys,

they were flying low because of visibility and had been trying to get around the storm on their way from PA to Fort Drum. They couldn't make it so they landed.

They couldn't make it through a snow squal? Maybe they should talk to those alaska bush pilots....they fly single screw tin cans through worse and "make it" Just seems odd.....

 

[Yohan]

The pilot who rode with me told me they don't have the kind of radar to fly (above or through?) a storm like that and they only do it if they have to do so in an emergency. I'm no pilot and only know what I read about these aircraft, but my suspicion is the flight leader added $40 million x 5 + 10 trained pilots and decided landing in a field was less costly than the possibility of crashing and explaining why he didn't have his group set down.

I asked another pilot how well the choppers hold up to small arms fire. He told me the hajis rarely have the skill to hit them and when they do, they've had rounds go through the engine and rotors and they still finish the mission and come back.

None of them seemed like the storm rattled them, I suspect especially in light of what they've done overseas. I think they were just being cautious. The guys on the ground over there need them around to fight another day! It was like meeting celebrity with these guys, though they all were very normal and gracious in answering our never-ending questions.

One last thing- One of the firemen (maybe the chief?) at the firestation was showing them his fire trucks and they were asking all kinds of questions about them. I thought to myself that these guys were being humble. I could be wrong, but how interesting can a fire truck be to guys who fly a 40 million dollar attack helicopter for a living?!! And NO offense to firemen, mind you!!!

 

[SouthernSteel]

Our men and women in Uniform In our Military Rock what awesome guys and girls we have serving this great country

 

[Monkeyboyarmy]

Stories like this make me sick.....the snow that is! Good job looking out for our troops.

 

[USAFSS-ColdWarrior]

....but officer, I ddn't know it was an Apache - I thought it was a Cherokee or a Soo.

BTW: Who guarded the craft while everyone went for Hot Chocolate?????

 

[combatmech]

Thats the great thing about Helo's.... we can land just about anywhere. Getting above the weather.... Most of us dont like going above 2000ft. Most of our cross crountry flights ( Like from Norfolk to Las Vegas ) we cruise at 1000 and below, weather permitting.
Awesome pics!!! Good to see they played the " safe " card....

 

[diverman555]

I was flying in a bell 222 into Galveston TX. We landed and about 2 minutes after our rotors stoped 5 Apache's landed right behind us. what a rush and kind of spooky. can you imagine standing there and 5 of those awsome gunships come in with all that firepower pointing right at you.