In an unusual and impromptu operation, one of the New Zealand Army’s LAV vehicles in Bamyan province, Afghanistan, has provided assistance to a disabled US Army Apache helicopter.
The Apache experienced an engine problem on takeoff and had to land again, with engine inspection showing extensive damage caused by ingested debris. The helicopter was in an exposed position on Bamyan airfield and the decision was made to tow it into the safety of Kiwi Base, home of the NZ Provincial Reconstruction Team (NZPRT).
Despite being on the wrong side of the perimeter wire and the ditch, the NZPRT workshop team manufactured a tow bar and led the helicopter recovery team which comprised US Army air and maintenance crews, NZPRT and US personnel. The Apache’s very limited threshold for sideways tilt required a great deal of ground preparation and load spreading using sheets of plywood.
The NZPRT guided the LAV as it slowly pulled the 8t helicopter around a corner, across the ditch and up the hill into Kiwi Base.
Maintenance crews from 10th Mountain Division, US Army, praised the ingenuity and quick action of the NZPRT personnel, saying they had never seen that level of craftsmanship from a maintenance team anywhere.
“Whatever we needed the NZPRT provided, and if they didn’t have it, they made it.” It took two days to make the repairs and the Apache, from 101st Airborne Division, returned to its base on 22 June.
- Published in the August 2011 Issue