The circle indicates the location of the tail section from the crash site.
That's where you'll find the 'Tailees'. ;)
Sorry, couldn't resist the 'Lost' reference!
Posted on 04/03/2006 5:10:20 AM PDT by Trust but Verify
No details per ABC radio
C-5 crashes near Dover; injuries reported
By JEFF MONTGOMERY
The News Journal
04/03/2006
DOVER — At least 17 people were on board a C-5 that crashed into a field near Dover Air Force Base at 6:30 this morning, and some have been taken to area hospitals, base officials said.
The C-5 jet transport broke into at least three pieces, coming to rest on land east of Del. 9 near Kitts Hummock Road.
Other information those injured in the crash is unavailable.
“I didn’t hear anything. The planes pretty much sound like they’re landing in my back yard all the time,” said Tammy Powell, who lives along Kitts Hummock Road just south of the base. “Especially when they’re coming in from the south.”
Powell said she could see the site of the crash from her back yard.
“The tail’s completely gone. It’s farther behind the plane. I can see part of the fuselage and the wing,” Powell said. “There’s no smoke at all.”
All routes to the crash site were blocked this morning. Del. 9 east of Dover is closed. Motorists wanting to avoid the area may want to take U.S. 113.
Some witnesses said they saw the plane go down nose first.
The accident is the worst ever in the United States for the C-5, the nation's largest military transport. One of the big jets crashed in Germany during the buildup for the first war in Iraq. Another crashed during the American pullout from Vietnam.
Me too. Never flown in one, though. Back in college I was working a construction job. You know, the kind of job that Americans don't want to do anymore. We were working on an apartment building off the approach end of of the runway at Dobbins AFB in Marietta, GA, which is near the then Lockheed plant where the C-5 was built. One particular day a C-5 was doing pattern circuits and I just happened to be working on the roof of this particular building all day. I can tell you that not only does the sky darken when one of these puppies flys over, but the ground shakes, too. One awesome piece of machinery......the modern version of "aluminum overcast"....
I am so glad you said that. I live in Delaware and my first thought was the thousands and thousands of snow geese now migrating here. Don't know if that was the cause but there are so many it's like living snow.
Then I thought...Nah...a bird wouldn't bring down a big plane like that. But these birds are everywhere right now.
Right, no argument there. But it would take time to dump fuel. That means time to contact the PAO and get assets in place for emergency landing.
If it lost two engines--especially if they were on the same wing? I'm even more stunned the pilot was able to get it down in that field more-or-less intact.
And this explains why the Air Force doesn't usually mess around with flocks of birds:
Boeing E-3B Sentry 77-0354 was military Boeing 707-derivative, a.o. equipped and AWACS system. The aircraft, operated by the US Air Force 962nd Airborne Air Control Sqn, 3rd Wing, was assigned call-sign Yukla 27 for a 6.2 hr training mission. At 07:43 Yukla 27 was holding short of runway 5, waiting for takeoff, when a Lockheed Hercules departed. This aircraft disturbed a flock of Canada geese. The Yukla 27 crew were not warned about this by the tower controller. At 07:45 they were cleared for takeoff and the throttles were advanced. As the plane rotated for lift-off numerous geese were ingested in the no. 1 and 2 engines resulting in a catastrophic no. 2 engine failure and a stalling no. 1 engine. The crew initiated a slow climbing turn to the left and began to dump fuel. The aircraft attained a maximum altitude of 250 feet before it started to descend. The plane impacted a hilly, wooded area less than a mile from the runway, broke up, exploded and burned.
From aviation-safety.net, link here.
}:-)4
When I went to the Armed Forces Day airshow at Andrews AFB back in the late '80s, they were using a C-5 as the "gate". You walked through it or under it to get to the tarmac and the rest of the static exhibits. I remember it being flanked by (I think) a KC-10 and a C-141, and it made them both look puny.
I've never seen one fly but friends who have seen them tell me they have a very distinct sound, like nothing else in the inventory.
}:-)4
The circle indicates the location of the tail section from the crash site.
That's where you'll find the 'Tailees'. ;)
Sorry, couldn't resist the 'Lost' reference!
The C-5 crash outside of Ramstein AB, Germany happened during the buildup to Desert Gulf Storm in 1990, as I remember. We lost 13 of the 17 crew. God bless our fighting men and women!
Except for you stating where you took that picture it could have been taken in many, many areas around the base.
I became acquainted with the Loadmaster that was on the C-5 that crashed in Vietnam. The rear pressure door blew out severing controls to the tail. After getting the AC turned using engine power, the pilot attempted to land but the AC was "porpoising" and impacted in a rice paddy about 9 miles short of the runway. They bounced over the Saigon River, impacted again and slid for a long distance. Most in the upper deck survived but many on the lower cargo deck perished. If you remember, this was a Operation Babylift flight so the passengers were orphans being evacuated from Vietnam. Needless to say, that was a heartbreaking experience for crew and all involved.
Another distinctive sound is the KC-135 when it is using the water-injection system on takeoff -- they will shake the entire flight line area as they take off, plus leave a trail of black smoke down the runway that is amazing looking.
KGH spokeswoman said 14 people were brought there..........NONE have life threatening injuries. In fact many walked off the ambulances on their own accord.
It doesn't take much to wreck a jet engine. A bird of any size getting sucked into those turbines moving at tens of thousands of RPM will trash the fans.
Google "bird strike" for some pretty scary pictures of what can happen when plane meets bird. Airports are usually very concerned about flocks of birds near their boundaries and take steps to drive them off (noisemakers, dogs, etc.).
Of course, then there's the picture I saw over the weekend of what happens when a King Air hits a deer with the right propeller. Ain't pretty.
}:-)4
Yep! It's basicly the same all around the Dover area. It's like that in NJ and In Delaware around Dover AFB.
My guess is the load master and his crew are the 3 more seriously injured. Chances are they may have been on the lower decks when she went in. Looks like the Flight deck and passenger compartments probably came through ok.
Just saw that too. I saw an earlier report that the seriously wounded had been flown to Christiana.
I do recall it and it was a heartbreak.
Actually it's that way all over DelMarVa. On the VA side of Assateague Island there is a pond aptly named Snow Goose pond.............at times it literally looks like the water is covered in snow.
Contacting PAO is low on the list of priorities when handling an inflight emergency.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.