UK opts to destroy 'unrecoverable' Hercules airlifter rather than risk repair effort
The UK Royal Air Force is understood to have suffered the first loss of a Lockheed Martin C-130J Hercules tactical airlifter, opting to destroy it after the aircraft sustained severe damage during a night-time landing in southern Iraq.
Sources say the aircraft was a C-130J-30 stretch variant, although the UK Ministry of Defence declines to identify the aircraft model. The MoD says that an investigation has been launched into the incident, which occurred on 13 February during a routine operation on a tactical landing zone in Maysaan province.
"The landing site was secured and damage thoroughly assessed. It was concluded that damage to the aircraft rendered it unrecoverable without risking people's lives to an unacceptable level," says the MoD.
Fears that insurgent forces could obtain information about specialist equipment on board led to coalition forces destroying the aircraft.
As a launch customer, the RAF has operated a total of 10 short-bodied and 15 stretched examples of the C-130J. The first C-130J-30 for the UK RAF was delivered in November 1999 and deliveries of all 15 aircraft ordered were completed in June 2001. The RAF also uses a fleet of older C-130Ks.
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Sources say the aircraft, wrecked in a night-time landing in Maysaan province, was a C-130J-30 stretch variant |
Source: Flight International
