Apache chopper gets stuck in bog for two days after being forced to land in the storm

AN Apache chopper was stuck in a bog for two days after it had to land in last week’s storms. The £40million war machine – famous for doing battle in the middle east and Balkans – was forced to land in a farmer’s field in Lincolnshire because of high winds. Engineers were dispatched to bring […]

AN Apache chopper was stuck in a bog for two days after it had to land in last week’s storms.

The £40million war machine – famous for doing battle in the middle east and Balkans – was forced to land in a farmer’s field in Lincolnshire because of high winds.

Stephen Daniels/DANPICS

Soldiers took two days to dig a grounded Apache chopper out of a bog[/caption]

Engineers were dispatched to bring the armed gunship back to its base – but were stunned when they realised it had sunk into the mud of the crop field.

A team of servicemen were needed to secure the hellfire missiles and a 30mm chain gun then dig the chopper out of the bog by hand with spades.

In total it took a crane, two Land Rovers and 13 troops with spades to free it at Helpringham, Lincs.

On Tuesday 3 Regiment tweeted that getting the Apache out of a damp field requires some engineering ingenuity and “some work with a spade.”

They added: “Rigging an aircraft for a road move on unstable ground is not easy. It has to be stripped to fit on a specialist trailer and then winched onto mats.

“It should be on its way home soon and the farmer can have the field back!”

Stephen Daniels/DANPICS

The Apache was on its way back from a training flight on the Scottish border when problems with the hydraulics forced the crew to land[/caption]

Stephen Daniels/DANPICS

Engineers were dispatched to bring the armed gunship back to its base but were stunned when they realised it had sunk into the mud of the crop field[/caption]

Stephen Daniels/DANPICS

In the end a Land Rover Defender dragged the machine on webbed matting rolled out across the field and eased it back to the road[/caption]

Stephen Daniels/DANPICS

A crane then lifted it onto the back of a waiting lorry which transported it back to its base in Suffolk[/caption]

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