US Army send three Humvees plummeting to ground in botched crash-land operation
Three Army Humvees became earth-bound missiles and crash-landed into a German training ground in a shocking video currently under investigation.
It has been revealed that the US Air Force launched 150 supply bundles off an aircraft and into a Hohenfels, Germany, training area as part of the Sabre Junction 16 operation on April 11.
Hercules tactical airlifters airdropped the High Mobility Multipurpose Vehicles near the Joint Multinational Readiness Centre but not everything went to plan.
The footage – believed to be filmed by a solider from the Army’s 173rd Airborne Brigade - shows a couple of planes pass and drop their cargo without incident.
Within a few seconds, a Humvee slips from its rigging, its parachute deploys but the machinery goes plummeting through the air at 257km/h before it crash-lands into the ground.
A group of soldiers can be heard laughing and yelling, "Ooo, Yeah! Yes!" in the background as the off-roader smashes into pieces.
The group is in hysterics when the second Humvee becomes loose and the expensive equipment tumbles toward earth.
One person can be heard saying he "called it!"
To the delight of the person recording, a third Humvee plunges to the ground, kicking up a giant cloud of smoke.
Eventually someone in the group notices one of the vehicles is on fire and asks, "Do we need to call that up?"
The video was posted to US Army WTF! moments Facebook page and has been viewed more than one million times.
It is believed the Humvees can cost up to $220,000 each.
Spokesman Maj Juan Martinez told the ‘’ Army Times’’ that nobody was hurt and an investigation in the “highest priority” is currently underway.
"The specific malfunctions that occurred on this day are under investigation," Martinez said.
Mr Martinez said he doesn’t know who recorded the video nor their role in the exercise.
“There were multiple rehearsals and inspections of the equipment prior to mission execution," he said.
“We cannot speculate on what went wrong until the investigation is complete."
According to the ‘’Tactical Air Network’’, the Humvees are loaded onto metal pallets and weight approximately 125 kilograms each.
In the aircraft, the vehicles are strapped in with honeycombed pads and pieces of lightweight wood are used to absorb the shock of a normal landing.
Once in the air, the cargo doors open up and the pilot slows down the aircraft before releasing a smaller chute which is attached to the vehicle’s pallet, sending the vehicles soaring through the air.
The Saber Junction 16 is an exercise that ran from March 31 to April 24 and it reportedly involved 5000 soldiers from 16 allied European partner nations.
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