{"id":61817,"date":"2021-08-31T19:57:03","date_gmt":"2021-08-31T18:57:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/?p=61817"},"modified":"2025-11-12T20:11:49","modified_gmt":"2025-11-12T19:11:49","slug":"the-old-ch-46-sea-knight-helicopters-that-the-united-states-has-abandoned-in-kabul","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/2021\/08\/31\/the-old-ch-46-sea-knight-helicopters-that-the-united-states-has-abandoned-in-kabul\/","title":{"rendered":"The old CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters that the United States has abandoned in Kabul"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>On August 15th you could read in Defense and Aviation about the participation in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/2021\/08\/15\/ch-46-y-ch-47-dos-veteranos-de-saigon-que-tambien-participan-en-la-evacuacion-de-kabul\/\">the evacuation of Kabul of veteran Boeing Vertol CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters<\/a>.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>The CH-46 is a medium transport helicopter that entered service in 1964 with the United States Marine Corps. <strong>It was one of the helicopters that played a key role in the evacuation of Saigon in April 1975<\/strong>, 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 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.stripes.com\/news\/report-expensive-airfares-harm-embassy-operations-in-afghanistan-and-iraq-1.600300\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">belonged to Embassy Air, a program created by the U.S. State Department in 2009<\/a> to provide logistical support and transport for dignitaries at its diplomatic missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. <strong>For this purpose, the Department acquired former Marine Corps CH-46Es<\/strong>, 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.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/51379795531_3da8d28e6d_o.jpg\" style=\"width:100%; height:auto; margin:10px 0 10px 0;\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Last night, after the last USAF C-17 took off from Afghanistan, <strong>the Taliban seized control of the military zone at Kabul Airport<\/strong>, 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.<\/p>\n<div align=\"center\" style=\"margin:20px 0 20px 0;\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Afghan?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Afghan<\/a> Air force planes, including A29 Super Tucanos and MD 530s helicopters. Some of the <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Taliban?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Taliban<\/a>&#39;s haul after <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/US?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#US<\/a> withdrawal. Many seem to have been disabled. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/aqV31dKX7v\">pic.twitter.com\/aqV31dKX7v<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Nabih (@nabihbulos) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/nabihbulos\/status\/1432596730281857024?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 31, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div>\n<p>As seen in this other video, <strong>those old Afghan Army aircraft have been destroyed and rendered unusable<\/strong> before being abandoned at Kabul Airport:<\/p>\n<div align=\"center\" style=\"margin:20px 0 20px 0;\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The situation at Kabul Airport Before the Americans left, they destroyed many helicopters and weapons.<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Afghanistan?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Afghanistan<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Ng7HKFVYkY\">pic.twitter.com\/Ng7HKFVYkY<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Ihtesham Afghan (@IhteshamAfghan) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/IhteshamAfghan\/status\/1432646293843763200?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 31, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div>\n<p>The Los Angeles Times correspondent has published another video showing <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/nabihbulos\/status\/1432457587576950788\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">the moment the Taliban enter a hangar and find four CH-46s abandoned by the State Department<\/a>:<\/p>\n<div align=\"center\" style=\"margin:20px 0 20px 0;\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Taliban?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Taliban<\/a> fighters enter a hangar in <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Kabul?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Kabul<\/a> Airport and examine <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/chinook?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#chinook<\/a> helicopters after <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/US?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#US<\/a> leaves <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Afghanistan?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Afghanistan<\/a>. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/flJx0cLf0p\">pic.twitter.com\/flJx0cLf0p<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Nabih (@nabihbulos) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/nabihbulos\/status\/1432457587576950788?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 30, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div>\n<p>As seen in this screenshot from the video, <strong>there are three CH-46s with Embassy Air livery and one with the Marines' livery<\/strong>, all operated for the State Department. It appears the helicopters' registration numbers have been removed.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/51416469095_d02517e58d_b.jpg\" style=\"width:100%; height:auto; margin:10px 0 10px 0;\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The website <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thedrive.com\/the-war-zone\/42060\/the-state-department-has-abandoned-its-ch-46-helicopters-in-afghanistan\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">The War Zone<\/a> has published statements from a State Department official indicating the following: <strong><em>\"The Department left seven CH-46 helicopters in Afghanistan that were rendered inoperable\"<\/em><\/strong>. The same source added: <em>\"These helicopters were already being removed from the Department's inventory and were scheduled for eventual destruction due to age and support capacity issues.\"<\/em> The same source has confirmed that <strong>several HH-60L Black Hawks belonging to the State Department's Air Wing have indeed been withdrawn from Kabul.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/51416459055_1fb5fa0cc3_b.jpg\" style=\"width:100%; height:auto; margin:10px 0 10px 0;\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Marcus Yam of the Los Angeles Times <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/yamphoto\/status\/1432503295302586372\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">has published<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/yamphoto\/status\/1432491287207415812\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">these two photos<\/a> showing <strong>Taliban fighters next to two CH-46 helicopters, one in a hangar\u2014painted in Embassy Air livery\u2014and the other outside, painted in Marine Corps livery<\/strong>. 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.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/51415536116_f0ed3677a3_h.jpg\" style=\"width:100%; height:auto; margin:10px 0 10px 0;\" \/><\/p>\n<p>According to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thedrive.com\/the-war-zone\/42060\/the-state-department-has-abandoned-its-ch-46-helicopters-in-afghanistan\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">The War Zone<\/a>, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) database <strong>listed 23 CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters registered to the State Department.<\/strong> One wonders if any of them took part in the evacuation of Saigon. <strong>A sad end for those helicopters, although it's always some consolation to know they're now unusable<\/strong>, considering who they've fallen into.<\/p>\n<p>---<\/p>\n<p><small>Main photo: <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/yamphoto\/status\/1432491287207415812\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Marcus Yam\/Los Angeles Times<\/a>.<\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[11546,10373],"tags":[12300,15357,15439,2310,15376,10431],"class_list":["post-61817","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-military-aviation","category-world","tag-afghanistan","tag-boeing-vertol-ch-46-sea-knight","tag-embassy-air","tag-kabul","tag-taliban","tag-united-states"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-11 18:44:47","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61817","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61817"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61817\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61817"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61817"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61817"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}