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Herk hard landing - Afghanistan


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Still an asset... I guess someone thinks even the broken fuselage of a $65M aircraft is worth guarding until they either recover it or destroy it and gather the parts.

That, or they don't want the Chinese getting ahold of our microwave oven and reverse-engineering it.

I wish they would...maybe then we would have one that works and costs 1/4 the price.

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Even if the Lockheed could outsource the manufacture of the J-model to the Chinese for 1/4 the price, Lockheed would still sell them to the US government for full price (plus an additional "shipping fee" to get them flown in from China). That's the way business works with the US government.

Edited by M2
Ethnic slurs/insults will not be tolerated on this forum. This post has been modified to remove it.
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  • 1 month later...

Really? Explosives? I can't believe they did this for a non-expedient relocation. Did they not realize that bolts can be removed with wrenches? Or at worst case, saws? This seems like really needless destruction, or perhaps somebody just wanted to have fun.

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Yep, that's the way they do it. The C-21 that went off the runway years ago at Tallill was set to be destroyed before the Iraq departure. They removed all the important/salvagable pieces and then let it sit for multiple years. They were working on getting it blown up the summer before the withdrawal. Not worth the time or the money to do it any other way.

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Really? Explosives? I can't believe they did this for a non-expedient relocation. Did they not realize that bolts can be removed with wrenches? Or at worst case, saws? This seems like really needless destruction, or perhaps somebody just wanted to have fun.

When we lost a Talon II in Iraq in Dec of '04 they did the same thing. Salvaged all the serviceable parts and then demo'd it in place. Not worth the time and money to repair an A/C that may not even ever be flyable again.

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They did the same thing to the RAF J-model that got hit by an IED on the runway.

An IED on the runway? So some guys snuck onto the base and buried and IED underneath the runway or do you not have any idea what and IED is?

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An IED on the runway? So some guys snuck onto the base and buried and IED underneath the runway or do you not have any idea what and IED is?

Yes. Herks go to places that don't have security sometimes. How do you think the guys that provide security get there?

And I know what an IED is. It's kind of like an IDF (IDFs if there is more than one) except that it doesn't get fired out of a launch tube.

Google "RAF C-130J IED". Not that hard.

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An IED on the runway? So some guys snuck onto the base and buried and IED underneath the runway or do you not have any idea what and IED is?

Yes, in this case some dudes snuck onto the runway at an austere location and placed an IED. Lucky it didn't kill everyone on board. There's a lot of crazy shit that has gone down in the past 10 years of war, you might not have heard every story.

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Many of the airfields that the herks use are only secured an hour prior to arrival. Security leaves after departure. There was a herk that broke in northeast Afghanistan once and they wanted to leave the bird on the "ramp" overnight...I had a hell of a time convincing them that the airplane would be in 10000 pieces and gone by morning if they left it without security.

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Ok, then the Brits suck at securing an LZ. Most semi-prep LZs in Afghanistan are outside the fence, but a team always secures the LZ prior to arrival and if you missed a fucking IED buried in the runway you are an idiot. I have watched the army and the marines secure LZs and this is one of the things they look for. Guess that why the story seemed ridiculous to me, because it is.

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Ok, then the Brits suck at securing an LZ. Most semi-prep LZs in Afghanistan are outside the fence, but a team always secures the LZ prior to arrival and if you missed a fucking IED buried in the runway you are an idiot. I have watched the army and the marines secure LZs and this is one of the things they look for. Guess that why the story seemed ridiculous to me, because it is.

All I hear is that you think crow tastes like chicken and you meant to eat it.

Out

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...and if you missed a fucking IED buried in the runway you are an idiot.

I'm pretty sure that if detecting buried IEDs was as easy as you're implying here, we'd probably have several thousand fewer casualties in OEF/OIF.

Just sayin'.

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  • 1 month later...

yeah, I work with one of the loadmasters that was on that Brit Herc that got blasted on landing. His visor actually stopped a good size piece of shrapnel from canoeing in his face. he's good people...

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  • 1 month later...

AIB is out via FOIA

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

AIRCRAFT ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION C-130J-30, TIN 04-3144 Forward Operating Base Shank, Afghanistan 19 May 2013

On 19 May 2013, at approximately 0950 Zulu (1420 local), a C130J , tail number (TIN) 04-3144, assigned to the 41st Airlift Squadron, 19th Airlift Wing, Little Rock Air Force Base (AFB), Arkansas, ran off the end of a runway at Forward Operating Base (FOB) Shank, Northeast, Afghanistan, struck a ditch which collapsed the nose gear and eventually ripped the right main landing gear from the fuselage. The right outboard engine struck the ground, pressurized fuel and oil lines were broken, fluid was sprayed over the cracked engine casing, and the right wing caught fire. The mishap aircraft (MA) came to a full stop at approximately 544 feet off the end of the paved runway surface. The mishap crew (MC), Aeromedical Evacuation (AE) crew and two ambulatory patients safely evacuated the aircraft through the top flight-deck emergency escape hatch meeting 600 ft off the nose of the aircraft. There were no fatalities, significant injuries or damage to civilian property. The total estimated loss is $73,990,265.

The MA was on an AE mission and included five active duty C-130 crewmembers from the 772nd Expeditionary Airlift Squadron (19th Airlift Wing deployed), Kandahar Air Base (AB), Afghanistan. Additionally, the MA had aboard six reserve AE. crewmembers from the 651st Expeditionary Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron (349th Air Mobility Wing and 433rd Airlift Wing deployed), Kandahar AB, Afghanistan. The mishap sortie happened on the third of five planned legs that day to an airfield that was at 6,809 ft Mean Sea Level (MSL) and experiencing winds varying from 200 to 250 degrees gusting from 6 to 28 knots. On the second attempted landing, the MA touched down approximately 1,500 ft down the runway but was 27 knots indicated airspeed (KIAS) faster than computed touchdown landing speed leading to the aircraft going off the end of the runway at approximately 49 KIAS.

The Accident Investigation Board (AIB) president found, by clear and convincing evidence, that the causes of the accident were poor Crew Resource Management (CRM) and mishap pilot one's (MPI) late power reduction causing a 27 KIAS fast touchdown at a high altitude airfield (6,809 ft MSL). Additionally, the MB President found by the preponderance of evidence that each of the following factors substantially contributed to the mishap: 1) Channelized Attention; 2) Risk Assessment; 3) Delayed Necessary Action; 4) Response Set; 5) Procedural Error.

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