[N8 v2.0]

Cargo Plane Crashes at Dover Air Base
Apr 03 8:44 AM US/Eastern
RANDALL CHASE
Associated Press Writer

DOVER, Del.

A C-5 cargo plane with 17 people aboard crashed near the Dover Air Force Base Monday morning, according to a state public safety official.

There is no word on fatalities but Department of Public Safety assistant director Allen Metheny said some injuries have been reported. Some patients are being taken to a local hospital and others were being taken to a trauma center.

It's not clear if the plane was landing or taking off when it crashed around 6:45 a.m.

The plane broke into three pieces, with the cockpit separated from the fuselage and a wing shattered. It wasn't immediately clear whether the plane was taking off or landing when it crashed.

The C-5 is one of the Air Force's largest cargo planes and is designed to carry very heavy cargo loads on transcontinental deployments.

Yet despite its size, the C-5 is desigend to be a versatile aircraft which can fly non-stop for 2,500 miles at jet speeds and is able to re-fuel in air. The plane, made by Lockheed Martin, can take off and land on relatively short, unpaved air strips, and can load cargo from both ends at once.

 

[johnbryanpeters]

Gaw dayum! Hope the occupants are OK...

 

[stosh]

Thats what flies out of the local AFB here where I ride. They are loud!!!

 

[JRB]

Thats what flies out of the local AFB here where I ride. They are loud!!!

F-15s are loud. Those - they are just big. I echo JBP and hope they are ok. It looks like it was rough, but hopefully everyone was belted and didn't get tossed around. They are big enough that, judging from the pics, that people would have made it out alive.

 

[stosh]

F-15s are loud. Those - they are just big. I echo JBP and hope they are ok. It looks like it was rough, but hopefully everyone was belted and didn't get tossed around. They are big enough that, judging from the pics, that people would have made it out alive.

Actually they are LOUD, at least the F-15's are only loud for a second or 2 the C-5A's are slow so you hear them coming for about 5 min, then they seem to hover over your house for 5 min, then you hear them flying away for another 5min.

 

[JRB]

Actually they are LOUD, at least the F-15's are only loud for a second or 2 the C-5A's are slow so you hear them coming for about 5 min, then they seem to hover over your house for 5 min, then you hear them flying away for another 5min.

yeah - that would be right. At Randolph AFB, they couldn't land a C5, but of all the planes that fueled there, F15s were really loud. When they took off, every car alarm in Universal City would sound off. It was funny.

 

[urbaindk]

I was doing trail work on a trail near Andrews AFB this weekend an a bunch of big ol' C130 gunships were circling around overhead all day. Those things are freaking huge and loud (4 props, not jet powered). The fly so slow and low they look like they ought to fall out of the sky at any minute.

 

[DamienC]

I was doing trail work on a trail near Andrews AFB this weekend an a bunch of big ol' C130 gunships were circling around overhead all day. Those things are freaking huge and loud (4 props, not jet powered).

No joke there. After flying in a Herc for 8.5 hrs (x2) and even with ear plugs on, my ears were still ringing for a while after getting off the plane.

Sending hopeful thoughts to the C-5 crew....

 

[Westy]

Actually they are LOUD, at least the F-15's are only loud for a second or 2 the C-5A's are slow so you hear them coming for about 5 min, then they seem to hover over your house for 5 min, then you hear them flying away for another 5min.

I'd see the C-5's flying out of Stewart where I grew up, they just seemed to float there and never move.

 

[N8 v2.0]

Its cool how they raise and lower themselves for cargo/runway operations.

 

[N8 v2.0]

***UPDATE***



DOVER, Del. - A C-5 cargo plane, the military's largest aircraft, crashed Monday just short of a runway at Dover Air Force Base after developing problems during takeoff, officials said. All 17 people aboard survived, though several were injured...

 

[Westy]

We may want to thank the pilot for saving the US some money. The C-5 has incredibly high maintenance costs requiring 47-17 man hours of maintenance for every hour in the air, depending on the model.

 

[JRB]

We may want to thank the pilot for saving the US some money. The C-5 has incredibly high maintenance costs requiring 47-17 man hours of maintenance for every hour in the air, depending on the model.

I can't quite make out how many hours that would be, but I'll willing to bet those things cost a ton to buy, so it may not be a wash.

 

[brungeman]

***UPDATE***



DOVER, Del. - A C-5 cargo plane, the military's largest aircraft, crashed Monday just short of a runway at Dover Air Force Base after developing problems during takeoff, officials said. All 17 people aboard survived, though several were injured...

that is great news... for those that were injured, get well soon!

 

[stosh]

Some more news from my local paper.

No locals involved in C-5 crash

The C-5 "Galaxy" that crashed this morning in Delaware was not from Stewart Air National Guard Base and no local personnel were involved, according to the 105th Airlift Wing stationed at Stewart.

Air base personnel called everyone on their flying roster, to make sure that no one was on the plane that crashed, said Sgt. John Gassler. Flights were not grounded.

The cause of the crash is still under investigation, but if it is found to be a problem with the plane itself, the base will review maintenance and make any necessary adjustments, Gassler said.

"It's really just too early to tell," he said.

A dozen of the giant planes are stationed at Stewart, according to the website globalsecurity.org. They are generally used to ship heavy equipment, vehicles and even smaller planes to bases around the world.

 

[JRB]

haha - so much for saving on maintenance. They are going to up it now.

 

[stosh]

haha - so much for saving on maintenance. They are going to up it now.

Are you hitting on me?

 

[JRB]

Are you hitting on me?

Of course. I thought I was being more discrete than that though.

 

[Andyman_1970]

The crash doesn't look that bad as far as aircraft accidents go (the fuselage being mostly intact for one and the lack of post crash fire)......this must have been on landing while they were very low on approach to the runway.

 

[-BB-]

I grew up in DE and we would go through Dover on the way to the beach (about 10x a year). Almost every time, you would have one of the C5's (C5-A or C5-B) take off right over your head. Lemme tell you, those things are HUGE. I even walked inside one during a school trip when I was a kid.


I don't know of anyone remembers the Tour DuPont, but one year ('92 I think) they actually had a stage start INSIDE one of those planes, on the tarmac at Dover AFB.

 

[JohnE]

We used to play football in the cargo holds of C5s on mid shifts, and you could still air it out on 4th down in there. They are big and loud and old, and being replaced by the C17. Thank God all onboard are alive. That will be a hell of a clean up job...

 

[lovebunny]

yeah there biig, i remember when i was in cap we saw them loading planes and helicopters into them.