Details are few but from the prelim info I am privy to it appears that the aircraft had a problem with a least 1 engine during take off. The crew opted for an emergency return & they crashed short of the runway in the vicinity of Rt9/13. I'll post more info later. One of my best friends is a crew dog on the C-5 at Dover & I'll be calling him tonight.

KC-10 FE out...

 

Awww shucks.

Adrianspeeder

 

B Model 84-0059. #2 Engine fire. Actually made it to the base perimiter and crashed on the base grounds. All onboard survived 10 out of 17 required hospital level medical attention. Tail located 200 yards from the remainer of the airframe. Fuselage spilt at approx #4 pallet position.

KC-10 FE out...

 

Amazing. At least all onboard survived.. that is a huge plan to begin with.. can't imagine the impact that thing made...

 

from the looks of it- relatively- it seems as though the pilots did a great job of trying to control whatever descent it had-
bummer dude- hope all are safe and not critical- read that a few int he hospital were able to walk/function with their injuries-

Justin

 

Excellent plane, damn-good pilot...

I've never seen a crashed jumbo jet so, intact... Looking at the pix, I felt most were OK- I'm glad to see all walked away (so to speak).

 

You all realize that Bush was behind this right??

 

looks like it hit hard to rip the ****pit off. I'm glad everyone is ok, relatively speaking.

 

Good one. I'm sure someone will come up with a theory.

 

It was all a mix up. Bush heard someone interviewed who said "I ran away when I saw it coming down"

Well now guess who we are going to attack....

 

Think the pilots were overheard saying "anyone feel a breeze"

 

my brother is the loadmaster in one of those..

he was at the base here in mass today...

my mom had to call to tell me he was'nt on that plane...
(yeah mom i know)

...zap!

 

All 17 crew members have been released from the Hospital. It's great to hear that all my fellow crew dogs are going to be OK.

New speculation involves a possible thrust reverser deploying in flight and also possible bird srtikes. At any rate, I don't understand how a 4 engine aircraft could crash with the loss of only 1 engine. There probably will not be any official release until they determine exactly what caused the crash.

KC-10 FE out...

 

I agree that it would be strange for an aircraft to go down after losing only one engine. It also looks like he had a load in there so he may have been very close to or over the max landing weight. If he had several bird strikes then he could have lost several engines and been in a world of hurt.

Also, aircraft are designed to break apart if the crash is hard enough. Look at how clean the break is, the airframe performed like it should. They do this so that more energy is expelled breaking the airframe than the airframe attempting to absorb it. Also it makes for a great emergency exit.

Joe

 

I can tell you for sure that the airplane did not go down due to the loss of a single engine or a single T/R being deployed. Yes, they were relatively heavy but certainly did not exceed their max landing gross weight since the C-5 can land at max take-off gross weight if required. The airplane is NOT designed to break apart and the fuselage fracture was the result skidding sideways and exceeding its structural strength. The opening produced does not make a good emergency escape route due to the fact that no crew or passengers are in the lower cargo deck. All personnel were seated in the troop compartment, aft flight deck, and ****pit. The height of the upper decks is approximately 3 stories which is why you see the escape slides deployed.

My money is on 2 engine failures on the same wing which is the worst case senerio for a heavy gross weight C-5. It will not fly in this condition and airspeed and altitude management during the approach is essential or you will crash short of the runway just like this one did.

I am thrilled that no one was killed and all are in stable condition. This really reflects the extensive training and professionalism of our Air Force flight crews.