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Hi Folks!

Ran acrossed this photo over at Army Images of a Stryker.
Will try to upload the photo after I get home.

Photo by Tech. Sgt. Lee Harshman, March 28, 2006. 3rd Platoon, Troop K, 3rd Squadron, 2nd Cavalry Regiment. Unloading at Daegu Air Base, South Korea for Exercise Foal Eagle.

www4.army.mil/OCPA/upl...091839.jpg



Spot Report!
Sgt, Scouts Out!

Awhile ago I found a link to a Stryker DIVING out of a C-5! I think it was an MGS prototype vehicle doing air drop tests, being pulled out of the cargo bay on a pallet by a chute. Might've been tests winter of '94?

Not C-130s?

Just look at all of that head-room and elbow room inside that C-5! Whew! Its hard to tell, but they may not have even compressed the suspension for shipping like they usually have to.

Hi Chris! Hi Folks!

- Chris_C

Not C-130s?

Nope!

The airlift was from Ft. Lewis Washington to Korea. Not going to use C-130s for a long haul like that.

Might pack that Stryker into a C-130 after landing in Korea for a short hope up country somewere.

My 2 cents,
Sgt, Scouts Out!

Talk about C-5s, this is one of those pictures you don't want to disappear with next day's news cycle. No fatalities from what I hear, but what are we looking at – $200 million or so in taxpayer dollars sitting in several large pieces?

Found this online :

(From : www.signonsandiego.com...crash.html )

(Video link : www.signonsandiego.com...rash.html# )


All 17 aboard survive
By Randall Chase
ASSOCIATED PRESS

10:07 a.m. April 3, 2006



DOVER, Del. – A huge military cargo plane crashed shortly after takeoff at Dover Air Force Base on Monday, breaking apart in a belly flop that drenched some of the 17 people aboard with fuel but caused no fire or life-threatening injuries.

“It's a miracle. It's absolutely a miracle,� said Lt. Col. Mark Ruse, commander of Dover's 436th Air Wing Civil Engineering squadron.

Military officials said the C-5 Galaxy, the military's largest plane at more than six stories high and 247 feet long, developed problems soon after taking off for Spain about 6:30 a.m.

It crashed just short of the runway while attempting to return to the base and broke in two behind the cockpit. The tail assembly landed several hundred yards away, and an engine was thrown forward by the impact.

“It looks like it kind of slid along the ground almost like a water landing of sorts,� Ruse said.

Fourteen of the injured, taken to a Dover hospital, were covered with jet fuel and had to be decontaminated in the parking lot, but officials said none of their injuries was considered life threatening.

Three others were taken to Christiana Care in Newark, said hospital spokeswoman Sharon Justice. The hospital would not release further information, but the military said none of the crash survivors' lives was in danger.

The C-5 was being flown by a reserve crew from the 512th Airlift Wing, said Capt. John Sheets of the Air Mobility Command at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois.

All flights from the base were suspended as emergency crews, some in hazardous materials suits, combed through the wreckage in a light rain under overcast skies. Some sprayed foam on the left wing, which had lost its engine, while others removed the remaining fuel from the plane.

Lisa Barrentine, who lives near the crash site and often hears military planes flying over her property, said she knew something was wrong when she heard the C-5 overhead around 6:30 a.m.

“It wasn't quite the rumble you normally hear, it was larger, and you could hear the windows shaking,� she said.

Tech Sgt. Melissa Phillips, a base spokeswoman, said a board of officers investigate the cause of the crash.

Dover is home to the largest and busiest air freight terminal in the Defense Department, including the mortuary that processes bodies from the nation's wars.

The C-5 Galaxy cargo plane, made by Lockheed Martin Corp., is one of the largest aircraft in the world, according to the Air Force. Even with a payload of 263,200 pounds, it can fly non-stop for 2,500 miles at jet speeds.

Hi all,

Thanks for putting that up, Mike and Jinx. Quite a story, and I suspect we will discover that the pilots get a lot of credit for successfully crashing a C5 (not joking!). The fact that everyone got out is pretty incredible, and who would have expected the relatively unbroken condition of the aircraft after crashing?

I'll be interested to hear the outcome of this. I know that most associated with the C5 don't think much of the durability, maintenance-wise. I wonder if this is just a new instance of the C5's maintenance problems. Hopefully that report will show up where we can see it.

C

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Thought I'd post these for a size comparison of the C5. Thats a KC-135 refueling the C-5. Here's a little history on the C5 in general, and on the C-5 that crashed. The C5 was introduced in June 1970, with 76 C-5A's built. An additional 50 C-5B's were in the inventory by March 1989.
There have been 6 C-5 crashes since 1970. The recent crash at Dover was the first by a "B" model, and the first crash in 15 years for a C5.
The tail number for the recent crash was 84-0059, which according to sources, is the 2nd "B" model built.
C-5 has 28 wheels, weighing a total of 4,200 lbs.
Paint on a C-5 weighs 2,600lbs.
Each wing weighs 40,000lbs, about equal to a C-130 empty, minus engines.
C-5 carries enough fuel for an average automobile to make 130 round trips between L.A. and N.Y., or about 31 trips around the world.
The interior can carry 6 Tour buses, or about 106 VW Beetles.
Just a little bit of info and research for you while I dredge along here at Ft Eustis.

Hey, Guys:

Extremely good news that nobody aboard the C-5 that broke up today, and that not a soul on the ground was hurt by such a huge object dropping out of the sky.

I guess we'll find out more about the problem as the story develops. Does cargo ever shift on an Airlift vehicle? Can anything be done if it does?

I worked a Japanese automibile carrier one day in the sixties in Los Angeles Harbor, and when we uncovered the forward hold, it was obvious that a vehicle on the top deck had 'come adrift', and had knocked nearly all of the other cars on that level adrift from their own lashings. A real Demolition Derby. In the storm that initiated the accident, none of the crew had heard the impacts from up forward, since that was where the vessel was slamming into the waves. Rumor on the docks next morning was that the Captain had killed himself on seeing the devastation

I can't imagine such a situation developing in the in the air. Are there any such that come to the Collective Mind?

Sincerely,
Russ

PS - Nothing wrong with Wingy Things, Doug!

Loads shifting in an aircraft, esspecially C-5's, isn't very likely, but I guess it could happen. AirForce personell are pretty picky about how loads go in and out of their birds. I'm currently in a class at Ft Eustis where we're learning how to build and load 463L pallets for air transport. Very particular about weights, balances, strapping, etc....
You'll notice there is a 463L pallet load sitting outside the plane, betwen the broken off nose and main fusilage. The impact broke it loose, probably a couple "G's" on impact, but the load on tha pallet its self remaining intact. Those pallets can hold 10,000lbs each. They have 22 securing rings, each rated at 7,500lbs. There are two side nets and one top net that secure a load. Each net is rated at 7,500lbs as well. The pallets have "couplers" that hold them in place. A C-5 can carry 36 of these pallets, each one is 88inch by 108inch, and the load can be stacked up to 96inch high. That would be roughly 130 Duffle Bags per pallet for comparison. This 88N MOS is pretty interesting for this Infantryman, haha.

The good news: the crew survived, and there were no casualties on the ground.

The bad news: the aircraft was destroyed.

Question, though. What happens to the cargo? It sounds as if at least some of it is intact.....so, if it is ok, do they just put it on another aircraft and resume its "interrupted journey"? Any ideas?

And a related question: will any parts from the C5 be salvaged and reused? Or will they automatically err on the side of caution and just dispose of it after the investigation?

My two cents would be this, whether the cargo can be re-sent, depends on the cargo. I'd bet whole blood would be scrap'd compared to spare 50 cal barrells.
As for the jet, a C-5 cost $178 million in 1998 fiscal year dollars. I don't think the Air Force would risk another such costly loss using "salvaged" parts. My suggestion would be to use the parts to museums. That nose/cabin area would make an awsome exhibit. The body, wings, engines, etc..., as well. Again, just my opinion.

'And a related question: will any parts from the C5 be salvaged and reused? Or will they automatically err on the side of caution and just dispose of it after the investigation?'

It will depend on the parts. Especially for an aircraft with a very shallow parts pool likethe C-5 I'm sure many will be reused. Lots, such as flight deck instruments will be stripped and worked back into the inventory after going through an inshop check out. Larger parts will probably be sent back to depot level for evaluation and possible refurbishment. You would be surprised how many 'salvaged parts' get used in maintaining older aircraft. One reason for the boneyard at Davis Monthan is to provide parts for aircraft still being used. I know that when planes are selected to be 'gate guards' they spend weeks or months stripping usable parts out of them. When I was at Keesler AFB for my initial avionics training years ago there was an F-104 that had been brought in to be put outside one of the squadrons. The entire 12 weeks I ws there it sat in a corner of the airfield having every panel opened and every conceivable component (hydraulic cylinders, valves, avionics junction boxes, etc) removed and tagged for putting back into 'the system'. By the time they were finished there was litlle left but the frame and the skin.

I saw this story on TV while travelling and I still have one question - Where is the tail?? I haven't seen a picture of it yet. I understand that the plane developed engine problems on take off, was circiling around to land and did not make it to the runway. Having driven through that part of Delaware many times ther is a lot of farmland but also many buildings nearby. I'm sure the pilot took a lot of that into account when decicing how to circle around to make it back.