US paratroopers found themselves in an embarrassing situation in Flanders on Wednesday. During a paradrop military exercise at the Hechtel-Eksel military base in the province of Limburg, in Flanders, five paratroopers found themselves stuck in a tree.
After jumping from an aeroplane, all five got stuck in the tree, but two were later freed with a ladder truck.
Rescuers even considered calling in a helicopter to help free the last three soldiers, who were trapped too high up for ladders to reach them, according to the Mayor of Hechtel-Eksel, Jan Dalemans.
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Fortunately, before a helicopter could be dispatched to the scene, local firefighters from the North Limburg emergency zone deployed their own specialised tree-climbing equipment to rescue the three soldiers and bring them back to terra firma.
This is not the first time that US paratroopers have found themselves in a sticky situation. In similar drills in Gettysburg in the US, six paratroopers found themselves tangled in branches after being blown off course. Helicopters were needed to rescue the stranded soldiers.
