I believe I once read that the C-130 was specially fitted for vertical take-off and landings, or that they experimented with the idea but it crashed miserably during testing. It was specifically intended for this mission.
"I believe I once read that the C-130 was specially fitted for vertical take-off and landings, or that they experimented with the idea but it crashed miserably during testing. It was specifically intended for this mission."
Not quite.
What happened was that a plan was devised for a C-130 to land in the soccer field near the hostage site. To allow for the short landing field a series of retro-rockets were fitted to the forward section of the C-130. In testing the pilot lit the rockets while at still too high an altitude and the plane virtually stopped in midair, and fell to its destruction.
Pictures of a test are online somewhere. I recall seeing them in the last several years.