Posted on 04/03/2006 5:47:49 PM PDT by SandRat
WASHINGTON, April 3, 2006 – All 17 people aboard survived the crash of an Air Force C-5 Galaxy transport jet at Dover Air Force Base, Del., Air Force officials reported. No official information was available on the condition of the survivors, who are members of Air Force Mobility Command's 436th Airlift Wing and the Air Force Reserve's 512th Airlift Wing. Both units are based at Dover.
The jet crashed short of the runway at 6:30 a.m. while attempting to return to the base shortly after takeoff, reportedly because of mechanical problems. The huge aircraft broke into three pieces -- the tail, fuselage and cockpit section.
A board of Air Force officers will investigate the crash. The last previous C-5 crash was on Aug. 28, 1990, during Operation Desert Shield, when a C-5A crashed after takeoff from Ramstein Air Base, Germany, killing 13 of the 17 people on board.
Stretching almost the length of a football field, the C-5 stands as high as a six-story building. The cargo compartment is 121 feet long, 19 feet wide and 13 feet high. The Berlin Airlift required 308 aircraft of the C-47 vintage, the military equivalent of the DC-3. Seventeen C-5s could have completed the same operation, according to a fact sheet on Dover Air Force Base's Web site.
The Wright Brothers' first flight at Kitty Hawk, N.C., in December 1903 was 102 feet shorter than the C-5's 222.9-foot wingspan.
Thanks the Lord.
I am so glad..Thank you, God.
There had to be an angel aboard that aircraft. The fact that there was no fire was amazing enough, but the sight of that broken C-5 Galaxy makes one wonder how all 17 aboard survived such a destructive crash. To that angel--thank you!
Are the DU moonbats mourning yet? You know they cheer when they hear about one of our boys getting killed in Afghanistan or Iraq.
Whoa...damn. SOB must be made of cast iron
Boing, Boeing...
I spent some time years ago at Travis AFB working around these things. All I can say is they are HUGH!!
I don't know. Last time I went to DU I had to call the ORKIN Man and then ROOTER-ROOTER to get my PC cleaned up; so I don't venture there anymore.
Thank God
That must have been a scary ride
Sure glad they all got out.
Actually.....I think the C5 Galaxy airframes were manufactured by the house of McDonnell-Douglas.
I was just watching one do touch & go yesterday.
i know I am a NAVY Vet, but mad props to the aircrew, for not only bring this plane down, but for ensuring that no one on the ground was killed. I am sure the pilots and crew remained cool under pressure and granted it is a crack up, the job was a professional one.
First round for these guys is on me!!!
Great news!
Heard some dope talking head say that most of the crew was released on their own recognizance. Oh, were they criminals being indicted or charged with crimes?
If you have never seen one land, they look as if they are going so slow, they will fall out of the sky before they touch down.
Once back in the 70s, they landed a C-5A at West Fort Hood air base. I drove in early in the morning with a lot of ground fog. You went up over a ridge then down into a valley approaching the air base. As I topped the ridge, I drove out of the fog. Coolest thing, the tail fin of the C-5A stuck out above the fog. Just a huge lake of fog with this huge tail fin sticking up in the air.
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