Broken and Never to Fly Again
The C-5A that crashed in Dover, Delware on 3 April, 2006, just tears at me. To see a scene like this:
Just cries out to someone like me that loves all things US Air Force. I am so very glad that everyone was able to leave the aircraft alive, even if reports are true that three airmen are in serious or critical condition. To understand the gravity of this class of a crash, look at the size of the fireman near the wing, and the top of the C-5!
This aircraft is NOT on landing gear making the total hieght even higher.
My hat goes off to the crew for making this less tragic than it could have been. For those of you that have either piloted, or watched the C-5 in T-A-Gs, this bird is one tough customer! Even though her landing gear can match “crab” on approach, she still is bound by physics. She can be torn off course with ease, and with engine trouble - the reported cause of the return to Dover AFB - this is no simple feat to bring her home safe. Those who know also know that reverse thrust is a tricky situation. Top that with a healthy dose of weather and engine trouble … I shudder to think how this transpired and the feelings of the crew and passengers.
It is very sobering to realize that this is only the second C-5 to crash in 16 years! For all the flights/air miles she clocks, I am amazed. Next to the C-130 and the C-17, she moves more payload in the air than any bird around. Here is the snippet from AF.mil about the last crash:
“The last C-5 crash was on Aug. 28, 1990, during Operation Desert Shield. A C-5 crashed after takeoff from Ramstein Air Base, Germany, killing 13 of the 17 people on board.”
And, my deepest thanks go out to the ground crew and firemen that have to answer the call.
For those who have had to train on aircraft fire suppression techniques (most flightline personnel do), I respect this job! OK, we just have to put a pan of flaming JP-4 out with a standard fire bottle (the ones you see in flightline photos from AF.mil). When an aircraft goes down, it is mayhem of the highest degree, and flames so hot I cannot even begin to explain.
Thank God they are all safe. Please pray for all the airmen to be released safe, and say a prayer for their families too. And, say a special prayer for the men and women who fight those fires and rescue our flight crews. Firefighters should never go unthanked, and always deserve a special prayer.
TAGS: Fix4RSO, Milblog, Military, Crash, Galaxy, USAF, Firefighters
April 4th, 2006 at 8:26
I have flown on those behemoths - that fact that they get up in the air is amazing; that these pilots were able to bring it back with the passengers living through that - incredible.
April 4th, 2006 at 13:23
You’re right…the fact there was no loss of life is a HUGE tribute to the skill of the aircrew and the folks responding to the crash.
Just *slightly* off-topic, but sorta relevant… The C-5 was directly responsible for some of the best sex I EVER had, which requires explanation, of course. TSMP (when she was still the girlfriend) and I had been living together in Tachikawa for about a couple of months or so and we were on our way home from my shop on Yokota AB one afternoon, on the motorcycle. Our route home took us from my shop (on the Yokota flightline) via the perimeter road to YAB’s “back gate” and then on to Tachi. The perimeter road had a traffic light situated at the end of the runway, and traffic was stopped whenever there was an aircraft in the landing pattern…and held until the plane had touched down. The light was red that particular day when we were on our way home, and being on the bike I rode to the head of the line, cut the engine and waited for the plane to land. Looking off into the distance, I could see the aircraft “on final” was a C-5. Well, to make a long story short (as if, right?), we sat on the bike about 150 feet away from that C-5 as it made its landing. TSMP literally jumped up and down on the back of the bike, thumping my shoulders and whooping and hollering like I’d never seen her do before, and rarely saw after. To say she was excited is a GROSS understatement. And when we got home…the buzz was still there. I’ll leave it at that.
April 4th, 2006 at 15:38
Buck, YOU CRACK ME UP!!!
This is one of the best Air Force “War Stories” I’ve heard in a loooong time!
April 5th, 2006 at 6:38
Nothing better than plane pron. Except maybe train pron. Try parking down by the railroad tracks some time. Ding, ding, ding, ding…….rumble, rumble, screeeeee, rumble, Whoooooooooooooooooooooooot
April 5th, 2006 at 8:38
OOOhhh…but I can definitely do without trains! My RV space is about 600 feet from the tracks. About six or eight trains go by each day, and although I’m quite used to the sound by now, i.e., I sleep right through the noise (assuming I’m asleep when they come thru), I STILL have to jack the volume up on the TV/stereo when they go by. Annoying, but a nit in the greater scheme of things.
Now, if we still had steam trains, or at least some sort of variety in the trains that go by El Casa Movil de Pennington, I might feel differently!
April 5th, 2006 at 11:18
Alright, Laurie, you did it! I am now going to put up some of my “big iron” pictures.
April 5th, 2006 at 22:23
Planes, trains and tanks!! Some of my favorite things!
I was so amazed that no one was killed! The pilots, crew and the rescue crews are the best!!
April 5th, 2006 at 23:07
Hmmm … sorry, Buck. There’s another vote for train pictures. AND, you’re even MORE outnumbered ’cause those votes are from the FEMALE side of the aisle!!!
My oh my, them times, they are a changin’ — and GOODEE FOR ME ‘CAUSE I LOVE TRAINS TOO!!!
(sorry Buck — we still love ya)
April 6th, 2006 at 6:43
Buck, Buck (sadly shaking my head)….. your not supposed to *live* near the tracks, you just go there every once in awhile to see the trains. Not when you want to watch television.
April 6th, 2006 at 7:09
We flew over to Kuwait from Dover via Maron on a C-5 in 2004. Fully loaded with three moving stock and about 14 other air pallets, sitting in the 100 seat deck on top. A good ride, much better than the C-141 “cattle car” in 1996 to Hungary.
April 6th, 2006 at 9:27
I have the slowest computer in the West, but I waited and waited for all of the pictures to come up - only two did, but I will try again later. I do not know anything about planes, but when we drive to Altus, OK, I love watching the giant planes circling, touching down, and rising again. Awesome! I can certainly understand TSMP.
April 6th, 2006 at 9:59
Lou - you make a great point and I should make this site faster. My Dad is on dialup and it takes forever to load his favorite sites. I’ll make these snaps smaller and then provide a link that will load the “huge” version for those totally into full screen plane photos!
Thanks for reminding me. I get in such a hurry I forget to do the little things for those that like to visit my site.
Take care!
April 6th, 2006 at 17:26
Eagerly awaiting big iron.
April 7th, 2006 at 0:57
OK, Laurie, one pic up, more to go …
April 8th, 2006 at 9:55
Hey! I didn’t say “I don’t like trains..”, coz I DO. I said I didn’t like the noise the trains make when they’re rolling by El Casa Movil. Where I’m docked is a choice, and I’m free to live with or change that choice at any point in time. In the mean time…the noise still bugs me!
April 8th, 2006 at 10:07
Sorry Buck, I was pokin’ fun to get my other hobby out there - trains! It must be because I cannot get a “bird” fix anymore that trains are the closest thing to standing next to a C-130 or SR-71. The mystique is intense … amazing how these masses of metal and men move down the rail all hours of the day.
Sorta like the Air Force - well, OK, not really.
At least the pilot can bank the aricraft. A train engineer is kinda … stuck …
JUST TURN UP THE TV!!!
Or, succumb and go stand outside, 20 feet from the railhead, and get tugged as she streaks down the tracks …
April 8th, 2006 at 10:45
I’m fightin’ with my Nikon negative scanner right now. I haven’t had it hooked up in a very long time … seems I might need to ‘craigslist’ this old one and buy a new one … grrrr … this means my photos are gonna take a bit longer than I thought.
“Rats.”
…
“I got a rock.”
Who said those famous lines?
April 8th, 2006 at 10:51
They don’t streak, they lumber, they crawl, they creep (most times)… accompanied by lots of blasts from the train whistle (do they still call them that?), because the crossing is unguarded.
And sometimes, they stop for what seems like an eternity, blocking traffic into and out of the park. There’s a big ethanol plant about a half-mile or so down the way, and a lot of the train activity is switching tank cars in and out of the loading siding. That, and the tracks that run by are on the “main line” (if one can call it that!) between Clovis and Roswell. So…we get about six or eight trains a day.
April 8th, 2006 at 10:53
“I got a rock.”
AC/DC?
April 8th, 2006 at 10:56
Oh my, HOG HEAVEN!!!! You’re near a classification yard! Whoo-Hoo!!!
Man, living vicariously through you I am. (my best Yoda voice)
Oh, if you are thinking of music, Buck, “I wanna rock!” is Twisted Sister.
I’ll wait for a few other guesses … one clue, use your “way back” machine to days of old (not too old).
April 8th, 2006 at 11:09
There’s a BIG yard in Clovis, and a VERY cool RR museum that’s a labor of love for an old retired NSA guy. This man was stationed at Harrogate, UK and Alice Springs, Australia (among other “exotic” locations) and has had a life-long love affair with railroads. So much so that he bought the old passenger depot in Clovis and turned it into a first class railroad museum. One of the “unsung” and largely unknown treasures in New Mexico. Maybe I’ll post about it some day…
My Clovis ex-girlfriend’s father was a railroad man, an engineer, and she grew up riding trains all OVER the southwest (free passes, and all that). I picked up a LOT of RR lore from that woman, not to mention meeting quite a few retired RR folks she knows, and listened to their stories. If you think USAF folks have good war stories, then you should hear some of the RR guys talk!
April 8th, 2006 at 11:32
“I got a rock.”
Who said those famous lines?
Charlie Brown in It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. Poor kid went trick or treating, and “All I got was a bag of rocks.”
P.S. I like trains, too.
April 8th, 2006 at 14:22
Wha-Hooo! Becky nailed it!
I love that series of lines from Charlie Brown. Every time something gets all messed up and I have to fix it, I always say, “Rats. I got a rock.”
Hmmm … seems like we’re collecting quite a few train folks! Coolness. Now I really need to dig out all my train pictures … pressure is on.