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Hercules plane destroyed in Iraq (by RAF, prevented recovery)
BBC ^ | Tuesday, 13 February 2007

Posted on 02/13/2007 7:00:24 AM PST by avg_freeper

An RAF Hercules transport plane has been destroyed in southern Iraq after it was damaged in an "incident" on landing, the Ministry of Defence said.

Two people suffered minor injuries in Monday's incident, after which the C130 plane was destroyed because of the potential risk involved in recovery.

A military spokesman in Basra said there was no evidence of hostile action during the landing in Maysan province.

The plane, based at RAF Lyneham, had been on a routine re-supply journey.

It landed 20km north of Al-Amarah at about 2010 local time (1710GMT).

The two people injured were taken to hospital, but the spokesman would not confirm if they were military personnel.

'Potential risk'

The Hercules could not safely be recovered and was destroyed by coalition forces three hours later, said the Basra-based spokesman.

An investigation was underway, he added.

The MoD said the plane was "significantly damaged" during landing, which led to the site being secured and a "thorough assessment" being carried out.

"It was concluded that the aircraft could not be recovered without exposing our personnel to undue risk," said a spokesman.

He went on: "There was also a potential risk that anti-Iraqi forces might obtain information on specialist equipment.

"The aircraft was therefore safely destroyed by multinational forces."

The MoD stressed the aircraft had been making "a routine landing on a tactical landing zone" and the plane had not been shot down.


TOPICS: News/Current Events; United Kingdom
KEYWORDS: c130; iraq; lockheed; raf
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To: Tommyjo

Thanks for the info. It was just a googled up image.


21 posted on 02/16/2007 7:13:13 AM PST by Liberty Valance (Keep a simple manner for a happy life ;o)
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To: El Gato

Hoping that the aircraft is still there and in one piece when they get back to it. Always a problem with anything left lying about in an Arab country.

Be a good chance to lure some Jihadies into a stand up fight and kill a bunch of 'em.

1) Hope is not a method in the US Armed Forces.

2) I don't know if you've ever seen the movie Lord of War, but if you have, the scene where the desert people dismantled and made off with everything from the plane after he landed to avoid capture is 100% accurate. There would have been NOTHING left of that plane whatsoever.

3) We don't arbitrarily pick fights with "Jihadies" over here. There are enough battles to be had without irresponsibly starting new ones simply because the Air Force could not make it to the landing field.

4) This is a HUGE success story because you are not watching the heinous execution of the crew members on Al Jazeera at this very moment.


I hope I didn't come off as rude, El Gato, but this particular subject is very near and dear to my heart. Thanks for allowing me to vent.

22 posted on 02/16/2007 7:37:08 AM PST by Moose248 (Posting from LSA Adder, Iraq)
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To: tanknetter

ouch


23 posted on 02/16/2007 8:11:52 AM PST by null and void (This sentence no verb...)
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