We flew to Kandahar and then were supposed to take helicopters, tiny Hueys barely bigger than traffic helicopters, to Khakrez. The three helicopters were lined up along the pad; we boarded, and we all took off, flying very low along the airport side runway, since it's important to avoid rising abruptly into the path of an F-16, a Blackhawk or a Warthog, all of which are significantly bigger than the Huey, as it lands or takes off. Well, we had been skimming along the runway for about 45 seconds when we turned around, went back to the landing pad and disembarked. Turns out the third helicopter had "a mechanical issue" that had made it rise about 20 feet off the ground and then come clunking down on the runway. And Hueys don't have wheels; they have skids. So it didn't land gently. So they had to send a fourth helicopter to pick up the people from the third helo and then we did it all over again. While we were waiting for them to take care of the third helicopter, we saw this bomb casing and cover to an outdoor grill, so I took a picture. I don't like it when my flight is delayed because some jerk shows up at the last minute at the check-in gate. I am miffed when the flight is delayed for weather in a distant city. But I am always happy to wait out a flight if the aircraft in question has "a mechanical issue," because when I asked the pilot what, specifically, that issue might be, he replied, "It's fucked up and will crash if we try to fly it."
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