— The 17 Airmen aboard the C-5 Galaxy that crashed near Dover Air Force Base, Del., today all survived, a 436th Airlift Wing spokesman said.
However, there is still no official word on the condition of the survivors, wing spokesman 1st Lt. Jamal Beck said.
The huge cargo plane crashed at 6:30 a.m. EDT today. The Airmen on board are members of the 436th Airlift Wing and the Air Force Reserve’s 512th Airlift Wing.
Television news reports of the crash show the aircraft’s tail a distance from the main wreckage, where the fuselage and nose are adjacent but separated.
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.
The C-5 is the Air Force’s largest transport and has been in the fleet since 1969. The plane stretches almost the length of a football field and stands as high as a six-story building. The cargo compartment is 143 feet long, 19 feet wide and 13 feet high.
The aircraft has a tremendous airlift capacity. The Berlin Airlift required 308 aircraft of the C-47 vintage, the military equivalent of the DC-3. Seventeen C-5s could have completed the same operation, according to a fact sheet on Dover AFB’s Web site.
Plane crash survival ‘absolutely a miracle
– by admin
A huge military cargo plane faltered after takeoff and belly-landed short of the Dover Air Force Base runway Monday, breaking apart and drenching some of the 17 people aboard with fuel but causing no fire or life-threatening injuries.
“It is a miracle. Absolutely a miracle,” said Lt. Col. Mark Ruse, commander of the base’s 436th Air Wing Civil Engineering squadron. “If you look at the condition of that plane and 17 people are still alive right now — it is absolutely amazing.”
Military officials said the C-5 Galaxy, the military’s largest plane at more than six stories high and 247 feet long, developed some kind of problem soon after taking off for Spain at about 6:30 a.m., and attempted to return to the base.
It crashed in an open, grassy area about a half-mile short of the runway, breaking in two behind the cockpit. The tail assembly landed several hundred yards away and an engine was thrown forward by the impact.
Capt. John Sheets of the Air Mobility Command at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois said two Air Force panels will investigate the crash. A safety board will try to determine whether any issues need to be addressed immediately to prevent crashes involving other aircraft. An accident investigation board will conduct an in-depth investigation that could take two to three months.
The U.S. Capitol Police on Monday submitted their case against Rep. Cynthia McKinney to the U.S. Attorney’s office, which will consider whether the Georgia congresswoman will face charges in connection with a confrontation involving a law-enforcement officer last week.
Citing the ongoing investigation, assistant U.S. Attorney Channing Phillips declined to say whether the referral included a recommended charge against the six-term Democrat.
For her part, McKinney said she expects to represent her suburban Atlanta district for many years.
McKinney, 51, had a confrontation with a police officer on March 29 when she entered a House office building without her identifying lapel pin and reportedly did not stop when asked.
Several police sources said the officer asked her three times to stop. When she kept going, he placed a hand somewhere on her and she struck him, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
McKinney issued a statement of regret for the incident, but no apology. At a press conference Friday, she and her lawyers declared she was a victim of inappropriate touching and racism and said they were considering pursuing civil action against the officer.
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BOSTON
A construction crane and scaffolding collapsed on a downtown street Monday, killing at least three people near Emerson College and crushing several cars, fire officials said.
Construction crews had been using the crane and scaffolding to work on a 14-story college dormitory on Boylston Street, which runs along the south side of Boston Common.
No students were injured, said Emerson Vice President of Public Affairs David Rosen.
A municipal judge has accepted censure as punishment for mocking an assault victim by comparing him to a lying character on “Saturday Night Live.”
The state Commission on Judicial Conduct said Monday that Syracuse City Court Judge Karen Uplinger “demeaned and mocked” Anthony Nushwat in October 2004.
“Humor has its place, sometimes even in court.
“But it isn’t funny for a judge to mock or belittle an assault victim who is making a statement to the court,” said commission administrator Robert Tembeckjian.
The commission said the judge compared Nushwat to Pathological Liars Anonymous member Tommy Flanagan, an SNL character created by Jon Lovitz.
“I think if you listen to Jon Lovitz, you might get an impression of how I felt when I was listening to this testimony,” Uplinger said in court, according to the commission.
