[all4one]

C-5 Crashes, Bird-Clogged Engines Suspected

17 aboard taken to two hospitals, at least three serious but most with minor injuries

Update 11:55 am

The News Journal/Scott Nathan

04/03/2006 DOVER -- All 17 people aboard survived the initial impact when a C-5 -- the U.S. military’s largest aircraft -- crashed at Dover Air Force Base early this morning after an undetermined in-flight emergency.

The massive plane, en route to Kuwait, was broken into three huge chunks, with the nose of the plane severed from the rest of the fuselage.

Fourteen were taken to Kent General Hospital with minor injuries, one with a broken leg, and 11 were expected to be released shortly.

The pilot and co-pilot were pinned in their seats when the plane crashed just south of the base, according to an Air Force officer who had friends on the plane...

Link to Update

[TankerKC]

The engine failure may have been the result of birds being sucked into the engines, a known cause of engine failure, a spokeswoman a spokesperson for the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the Pentagon said.

If they really got this quote from a JCS spokesperson, then it is pure speculation.

Of course, it could very well be true.