Turkish C-130 Crash (broke up in flight).

[ClearedHot]

[M2]

https://www.aerotime.aero/articles/turkish-c130-crash-georgia-azerbaijan-border

[M2]

Lockheed C-130EM Hercules, registration 68-1609, a 57-year-old aircraft originally delivered to Saudi Arabia before joining the Turkish Air Force.

[Sua Sponte]

Wingbox corrosion? 

[ClearedHot]

2 hours ago, Sua Sponte said:

Wingbox corrosion? 

Wayyyy too soon to know.  Remember a KC-130 broke up over Mississippi a few years back thanks to a corroded propeller blade.

 

[ClearedHot]

Interesting close up video out there now.  From this snap it looks like everything fore and aft of the center wingbox is gone...AND possibly few few props.

 

[lloyd christmas]

Pretty horrific for a Herc guy…  The original props and engines on the E/H are obviously as old as the airframes.  The USAF has largely replaced the old 4 bladed props on the H with the 8 bladed NP 2000 props or pushed up the acquisition of the J model with its Rolls engines and 6 bladed props.  This was accelerated due to the 2017 Marine Corps crash in MS. The props and engine issues are well known with our fleet but you have to wonder what other countries like Turkey have done to inspect or mitigate these issues.  The airplane that went down today was a 68 model.

I did the legacy (E/H) deal to the tune of 19 years and roughly 5500 hours and have now done the J model thing for about 4 years and 800 hours.  Honestly, I breathe a sigh of relief every time I get on a J.  The old 4 bladed props were becoming a very big problem in the fleet and I am glad we’ve replaced most of them.  I remember hearing of a KY ANG crew that dealt with a bad prop that didn’t leave the engine but shook so violently you couldn’t read the instruments.

This was not meant to speculate on the cause of this accident but to show an eerie similarity to the issues we faced.