US military officials have admitted that a heavy combat vehicle used in conflicts like the Iraq and Afghanistan wars was accidently parachuted into a North Carolina neighborhood, miles away from its intended drop zone.
The four-wheel-drive Humvee, an armored combat vehicle often fitted with gun shields and turrets, reportedly fell from a Boeing C-17 transport plane on Wednesday.
According to local reports, the transport plane took off from Fort Bragg on a training mission. However, the equipment drop test incurred some difficulties and a Humvee was parachuted into Harnett County neighborhood. The Globemaster aircraft is used by the US to transport large military aircraft.
"The C-17 took off from Pope Army Airfield, Fort Bragg, North Carolina, on a routine air drop test training mission and inadvertently dropped a US Army Humvee vehicle prematurely over Cameron, North Carolina, approximately five miles from the Fort Bragg drop zone," a US military spokesperson confirmed to WCSC News.
Nobody was hurt in the bizarre incident and the vehicle appears to have landed near a wooded area. However, an investigation into how the failed drop occurred has been launched.
During vehicle drops, the back chute of a transport plane is normally left open to allow for equipment to fall safely, with the help of a reinforced parachute and container, to a designated ground location.
Local resident Shatwana Ross expressed her shock at the incident and said the area where the Humvee landed is normally where children play.
"This is the place where our kids play and run," she told WRAL.com. "Luckily, they were in school when this happened because that's normally where they're at."
It’s not the first time the US military has experienced a mishap with Humvee airdrops. Earlier this year, a US soldier was found guilty of sabotaging a drop which saw three vehicles destroyed in 2016. Footage of the incident went viral.
SOURCE:
https://www.rt.com/usa/442230-us-humvee-drop-fail/
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