C5 crashes near Dover AFB

ABC News | 04/03/2006

[Trust but Verify]

No details per ABC radio

[FreedomPoster]

A good friend is a seriously experienced C-17 pilot. That's one heckuvan aircraft. A much better place to be than an outdated, difficult to maintain C-5.

[leadpenny]

Thanks, Gaffer.

I was sure either, coop.

[leadpenny]

wasn't

[FreedomPoster]

That's a C-17.

[G Larry]

Thanks for the link to the story w photo.

Must say the writer is a little out of touch though:

"The aircraft is two and a half football fields long, and more than six stories high."

750 Feet long???????

[Kozak]

Nice to see that reporters still don't know jack about aircraft.

Reporters don't know jack, period.

[Coop]

I'm caught up now, thanks. :-)

[all4one]

See post #26

[arbee4bush]

True. That was one of her main reasons to stick with the 17. They are awesome huge birds. She is stationed in Charleston and we went down last month to see her. Watched them take off and oh my--they are amazing.

[Toespi]

They got it confused with an aircraft carrier.

[all4one]

C-5 Crashes Near Dover Air Force Base

(AP) DOVER, DE A C-5 transport plane has crashed near Dover Air Force Base. Technical Sergeant Melissa Phillips confirms 17 people were aboard the plane. She says their conditions aren't known. Some patients are being taken to a local hospital and others were being taken to a trauma center.

A board of officers will convene to investigate the crash. She did not know if it crashed as it was landing or taking off. She says the crash happened at 6:30 a.m.

Route Nine is closed near the crash scene. The plane broke into three pieces. The cockpit is separated from the rest of the fuselage. The cockpit is facing west and the larger piece of fuselage with the wing facing northeast. There is no sign of a tail assembly.

The injured are reprotedly being taken to Kent General Hosptial. It’s not clear if the plane was landing or taking off when it crashed.

Link to Story

Facts: U.S. Air Force C-5 Cargo Plane

Link to Info.

[A.A. Cunningham]

That's a 17 not a 141.

[Heatseeker]

FYI for non-locals - WMDT is the other 'local' station - both it and WBOC are primarily based in Salisbury MD but have satellite operations in Dover DE. WMDT is the smaller of the two and has nothing new on its page currently.

[Mr Fowl]

CLICK HERE for live video News from Phil Channal 6 WPVI!

[BulletBobCo]

I was a flight engineer on C-5s back in the late 80s. From the looks of the photo on post 35 the worst injuries would have been for anyone sitting in the area aft of the bunk rooms behind the cockpit.

[Gabz]

I'm on pins and needles awaiting phone calls from Dover.

The report I just heard on WDEL, along with KYW footage on FNC I know exactly whose potato field it went down in.

[Mustng959]

Rode in a C-5 two or 3 times across the big pond back in the late 70's and early 80's. The upstairs has seats like a regular passenger jet. Only thing is, they face backwards to the rear of the plane. Feels funny taking off and landing.
Responded to an in-flight emergency in 1982, a C-5. Pilot couldn't get his nosegear down. After flying around awhile to use up fuel, he brought it down and rode the back wheels as far as he could before he dropped the front down. Barely messed it up at all. It was back in the air about a week later. Some darn good pilots in the Air Force!

[Heatseeker]

Here's a MapQuest link to the area of the base and south - you can see Rt 9 running along the east edge of the base and then down south of it.

[RetiredSWO]

You are right it is 247.1 ft long.
Can't believe they made that mistake.

Reference:
http://www.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet_print.asp?fsID=84&page=1

[TomServo]