Residents of the village of Gruta, in northern Poland, pose for a photo with U.S. troops and their Chinook helicopter in the middle of a village field where six U.S. Army helicopters made an unplanned landing in poor weather on Tuesday, September 9.
U.S. helicopters make unplanned landing in Poland —
Residents of the village of Gruta, in northern Poland, pose for a photo with U.S. troops and their Chinook helicopter in the middle of a village field where six U.S. Army helicopters made an unplanned landing in poor weather on Tuesday, September 9.
Celestyna Cichocka/ap
Villagers look at the U.S. helicopters and their crews. Six other U.S. helicopters also made unplanned landings in the nearby village of Nowa Wies because of the weather.
U.S. helicopters make unplanned landing in Poland —
Villagers look at the U.S. helicopters and their crews. Six other U.S. helicopters also made unplanned landings in the nearby village of Nowa Wies because of the weather.
STANISLAW RAGINIAK/AFP/Getty Images
The U.S. helicopters and their crews are shown in the field. During the two-hour stay, they were a great attraction to the villagers.
U.S. helicopters make unplanned landing in Poland —
The U.S. helicopters and their crews are shown in the field. During the two-hour stay, they were a great attraction to the villagers.
STANISLAW RAGINIAK/AFP/Getty Images
The helicopters wait in the field.
U.S. helicopters make unplanned landing in Poland —
The helicopters wait in the field.
Stanisaw Raginiak/ap
The U.S. helicopters take off after the landing.
U.S. helicopters make unplanned landing in Poland —
The U.S. helicopters take off after the landing.
Daniel Zurawski/ap
U.S. helicopters make unplanned landing in Poland

Story highlights

Bad weather forces six helicopters to land

Villagers flock to a field for the surprise visit

They mayor of the small village of Gruta regrets they didn't feed the U.S. soldiers

CNN  — 

When a flight of military helicopters descended into a field in the small village of Gruta, Poland, on Tuesday, residents had reason to be alarmed.

After all, the village is only about 100 miles (161 kilometers) from the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad. And with current tensions between Poland and its NATO allies and Russia over the situation in Ukraine, well, it would be natural to worry.

But it turned out this was more treat than threat.

The six copters were U.S. Army. The five Black Hawks and one Chinook were on their way back to their temporary base in Poland from NATO exercises in Lithuania when bad weather forced them to land in the Gruta field, a Polish military spokesman told Bloomberg News.

Whoever could in the village of 1,600 people flocked to the scene, according to the town’s website, chatting with the U.S. troops and posing for pictures.

“It’s a big treat to be able to see up close such a colossus,” the website said of the twin-rotor CH-47 Chinook. Town residents posed for pictures with the troops and the machine.

“Thank God it was the Americans,” the town’s mayor, Halina Kowalkowska, told Bloomberg. But she said the town’s excitement may have made residents forget their hospitality.

“Now, when I think about it, we could have served them some food, but we were in shock and the boys had to go,” Bloomberg quoted her as saying.