Chinook hard landing

Photo By Spc. Anh Tuan Nguyen | U.S. Army Soldiers with the 214th Aviation Regiment assist an injured casualty from a CH-47 Chinook helicopter during Saber Junction 22 at the Joint Multinational Readiness Center, Hohenfels, Germany, September 11, 2022. Saber Junction 22 is a multinational rotational exercise designed to assess the readiness of the U.S. Army's 173d Airborne Brigade to execute unified and operations in a joint, combined environment and to promote interoperability with more than 4,500 participants from the U.S. and Allied and partner nations at the U.S. Army's Grafenwoehr and Hohenfels training areas from August 29 to September 20, 2022. (U.S. Army Reserves photo by Spc. Anh Tuan Nguyen)  

HOHENFELS, GERMANY

09.11.2022

Story by Anh Tuan Nguyen 

211th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

HOHENFELS, Germany – On an overcast fall day in Bavaria, propellers of a U.S. Army Chinook roar as it touches down in an open field without warning. The Chinook hard lands, causing two Soldiers to be injured. Fortunately, this landing was training for the Soldiers and participants of Saber Junction 22.
More than 4,500 participants from the U.S. and Allied and partner nations execute unified land operations in a joint, combined environment and promote interoperability in Saber Junction 22.
In the box of the training area, the list of duties for the 1st Battalion, 214th Aviation Regiment, General Support Aviation Battalion are many but, they are always ready to respond and one of the most important duties is responding to medical emergencies.
What began as a Class IV resupply, a routine mission flying from one area of operations to another, quickly took a turn that would test the Soldiers’ skills.
“On the way there, we were hit with a simulated emergency procedure that required us to land immediately to a field that was unsecured and request recovery as part of the procedure,” said U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer 2 Kevin Costa, a pilot assigned to the 214th Aviation Regiment. “Per our recovery plan, we requested recovery from our Delta Company, DART, downed aircraft recovery team, which included a security team, medics, and repair and maintenance crews and parts and tools they needed to fix what we were working on.”
The recovery plan began with a pilot and a helicopter repairer calling for a medical evacuation of their injured personnel. They conducted security while communicating with the Delta Company for estimated time of arrival, coordinates, etc. summarized Costa.
“In reality everyone was fine, there was no damage to the aircraft or personnel,” said Costa.
The Dart team soon came and landed next to the simulated downed aircraft. The security team fanned out quickly and secured the area, explained Costa. The medic came onto the aircraft, treated and extracted the two casualties. Finally, the maintenance team repaired the simulated damage to the aircraft.
Costa said that before every operational mission, the team prepares for the aircraft to go down in case of emergencies in hostile environments. These scenarios don’t happen often, but Costa is glad his team gets the practice.
“We used all of our recovery techniques and were able to get rescued and come back with everybody safe,” said Costa. “It’s great to be in a place where we can actually do those things.”

• Date Taken: 09.11.2022
• Date Posted: 09.12.2022 11:54
• Story ID: 429074
• Location: HOHENFELS, DE