The old CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters that the United States has abandoned in Kabul

On August 15th you could read in Defense and Aviation about the participation in the evacuation of Kabul of veteran Boeing Vertol CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters.

The CH-46 is a medium transport helicopter that entered service in 1964 with the United States Marine Corps. It was one of the helicopters that played a key role in the evacuation of Saigon in April 1975, as was the CH-47 Chinook, which has also been seen flying over Kabul in recent weeks. The CH-46s deployed in the Afghan capital belonged to Embassy Air, a program created by the U.S. State Department in 2009 to provide logistical support and transport for dignitaries at its diplomatic missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. For this purpose, the Department acquired former Marine Corps CH-46Es, decorating some of them with a white and gray livery. Some were also seen in the old Marine Corps gray scheme, but without any markings.

Last night, after the last USAF C-17 took off from Afghanistan, the Taliban seized control of the military zone at Kabul Airport, where they encountered Afghan Army Embraer A-29 Super Tucano counterinsurgency aircraft and Hughes MD-530 and Sikorsky SH-60 Black Hawk helicopters. Some of these aircraft appear in this video from a Los Angeles Times correspondent.

As seen in this other video, those old Afghan Army aircraft have been destroyed and rendered unusable before being abandoned at Kabul Airport:

The Los Angeles Times correspondent has published another video showing the moment the Taliban enter a hangar and find four CH-46s abandoned by the State Department:

As seen in this screenshot from the video, there are three CH-46s with Embassy Air livery and one with the Marines' livery, all operated for the State Department. It appears the helicopters' registration numbers have been removed.

The website The War Zone has published statements from a State Department official indicating the following: "The Department left seven CH-46 helicopters in Afghanistan that were rendered inoperable". The same source added: "These helicopters were already being removed from the Department's inventory and were scheduled for eventual destruction due to age and support capacity issues." The same source has confirmed that several HH-60L Black Hawks belonging to the State Department's Air Wing have indeed been withdrawn from Kabul.

Marcus Yam of the Los Angeles Times has published these two photos showing Taliban fighters next to two CH-46 helicopters, one in a hangar—painted in Embassy Air livery—and the other outside, painted in Marine Corps livery. The Taliban's Western attire is striking, with Fast special operations helmets, Multicam camouflage uniforms, night-vision goggles, and M-4 carbines. This equipment was likely captured from the Afghan Army.

According to The War Zone, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) database listed 23 CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters registered to the State Department. One wonders if any of them took part in the evacuation of Saigon. A sad end for those helicopters, although it's always some consolation to know they're now unusable, considering who they've fallen into.

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Main photo: Marcus Yam/Los Angeles Times.