Lunatic reportedly attacks US war plane with hatchet at Ireland airport, extensively damaging $75M craft (C-130)

NY Post ^ | 4/11/26 | Shane Galvin

[Libloather]

A maniac reportedly attacked a US war plane with a hatchet at a major civilian airport in Ireland Saturday, causing extensive damage at a controversial stopover site for American military.

He snuck into restricted space at Shannon Airport in County Clare, where the US Air Force’s $75 million C130 Hercules military transport aircraft was parked, local outlet The Journal reported.

The lunatic — in his 40s but yet to be identified — climbed onto the wing of the plane and started hacking away at the wing and the fuselage, causing extensive damage, according to GB News.

The shocking attack caused the airport to close for just under 30 minutes, before police from the Garda Síochána arrested the man.

The C-130 Hercules is a transport aircraft that is used in a wide range of military situations.

[Ditto]

Well they a just idiots and not nearly as smart as you. /s

[T.B. Yoits]

We would rile up the JAG captain who would give us the Law of Armed Conflict (LOAC) briefings. Without fail, someone would ask a question about shared use of airfields, because some of the systems at our base would transit through civilian airfields that had previously been military bases.

Even the junior enlisted would jump in. "So, if we got into some trouble at that location, do the local cops arrest us, or is it OSI?" "Do I ask for a Public Defender or the Area Defense Counsel (ADC)? If it's the ADC, do I have the cops call the nearest base which might be several states away, or another branch of service, or do I ask them to call all the way back here?"

"Are we allowed to be armed up to escort weapons couriers, classified information couriers, and crypto couriers?"

We still use some overseas bases even after the DoD gave them up.

It's also been a growing situation for the last few decades due to Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) lists because some Guard and Reserve wings continue to operate at the same base but the base ownership changes to a regional "economic zone" psuedo-government entity.

It's not just aircraft and munitions that are an issue, there's all the intelligence going in and out. There's also the issue of "Use Of Deadly Force Is Authorized".

[Ditto]

Yada, yada,yada. My local airport has an ANG base that flys refueling tankers and C-17 cargo jets. They have their own buildings, their own a corner of the airport with hangers and ramps. But when they are taking off and landing, they use the same runways as the commercial jets.

You want to change that… why?

[T.B. Yoits]

You want to change that… why?

Because military and civilians fall under different laws.

Because civilians don't deserve to be viable military targets just so politicians and goverment bureaucrats can claim to save a buck and send the money elsewhere.

[T.B. Yoits]

Yada, yada,yada.

Belittle it all you want but everyone dealing with the C-130 that's now grounded in a civilian airport in a foreign country aren't saying, "yada, yada, yada".