'It looked apocalyptic': Air Force crew describes Afghan departure For the U.S. military pilots and aircrew about to make their final takeoffs out of Afghanistan, the sky was lit up with fireworks and sporadic gunfire and the airfield littered with battered shells of airplanes and destroyed equipment. Taliban fighters, visible in the darkness through the green-tinged view of night vision goggles, walked the airfield waving an eerie goodbye. "It looked like one of those zombie movies where all the airplanes had been destroyed, their doors were open, the wheels were broken. There was a plane that was burned all the way," said Air Force Lt. Col. Braden Coleman, who was in charge of monitoring the outside of his aircraft for artillery fire and other threats. "It was just definitely very tense, and we were definitely all on edge watching everything going on to make sure that we were ready," said Air Force Capt. Kirby Wedan, pilot of MOOSE81, who led the final formation of five aircraft out. Adding to the stress, she said, was that their planes were parked in an area of the airport that had been attacked in the past. At one point during the night, a group of civilians tried to get to the aircraft, but they were stopped by Army troops securing the plane, said Wedan. Senior Airman Taylor Crul, Lolita C. Baldor (@apnews)