The possible reason why the American helicopter made an emergency landing and got stuck in the middle of a field

The US AH-64E Apache Guardian armed helicopter on May 15 made an emergency landing in a rice field in Pyeongtaek city, Gyeonggi province, about 65 km south of Seoul. Major Eileen Poole, spokeswoman for the US Army’s 2nd Infantry Division, said officials were investigating the cause of the incident, but did not give further details.

News agency Yonhap Citing police, the repair operation is expected to last 2-3 days. Images posted by American media on May 18 showed that the plane was still stuck in the middle of a field, apparently because repairs had not been completed. No information about the incident was released afterward.

This is just one of a series of problems the Apache helicopter line has encountered in recent months. In March, an AH-64E crashed during a training flight at Rucker Base in the US state of Alabama, injuring two crew members.

A month later, an Apache had to make an emergency landing in a field in Alabama due to problems in the air. Also this month, a helicopter crashed at Hood Base in Texas during an acceptance flight after maintenance.

The series of incidents took place while the US Army discovered a new problem in the transmission system of Apache helicopters.

Specialized defense page Defense One On May 19, citing an internal safety document released by the US Army in April, it said that the force had conducted an investigation and discovered that several main transmission clusters of the Apache helicopter could have internal failures, causing loss of drive to the auxiliary gearbox, potentially causing the tail rotor to lose thrust and collapse the electrical and hydraulic power.

“The root cause is under investigation,” the document said.

According to the document, all AH-64E series helicopters are affected and the US Army is required to stop operating aircraft with faulty main transmission clusters until further instructions are received.

The US Army confirmed the investigation, but declined to say when the problem was discovered and how many helicopters were affected. “We have identified a potential problem with the transmission system of the AH-64E helicopter and are actively coordinating with the manufacturer to conduct a comprehensive investigation to determine the cause,” a US Army spokesman said.

However, US Army officials refused to confirm whether the recent incidents were related to problems with the transmission system of the AH-64E series. “Although we have some preliminary conclusions, we have not released these details to avoid unnecessary speculation while the investigation is ongoing,” the spokesman said.

Yonhap said initial information from the AH-64E flight crew indicated that the engine may have overheated. US officials did not comment on the information, nor is it clear whether this is a consequence of problems surrounding the transmission system or not.

The US Army is facing budget problems, forcing many air force units to cut flight hours and eliminate the AH-64D variant, according to internal documents seen by Defense One.

“The Army is short nearly two billion dollars to maintain readiness levels, largely due to the Department of Homeland Security’s failure to reimburse the costs of performing support missions at the border. I have received worrying reports about the risk of canceling rotational training sessions, suspending flight hours, and reducing resources for the National Guard and reserve forces,” Senator Jack Reed said during a hearing at the US Senate Armed Services Committee last week.

According to an Apache pilot, suddenly cutting flight hours while this helicopter line is having persistent technical problems is very dangerous. “Airplane breakdowns are obvious in this profession, but it’s like a snowball effect. In my personal opinion, the number of incidents will increase as flight hours decrease,” this person said.

According to manufacturer Boeing, the AH-64 Apache multi-mission armed helicopter is used by the US Army and 15 other countries. The AH-64E is the most modern American variant, once known as AH-64D Block III, with a number of improvements in communication and information distribution capabilities, radar, as well as a more powerful engine than older models.

The factory price of each AH-64E is about 35 million USD. If including the cost of components, technical support, weapons and operational training, each AH-64E helicopter will cost up to 52-65 million USD.