KC-135s damaged by Tropical Storm Maria

And unknown number of KC-135s suffered unspecified damage on Guam, caused when Tropical Storm Maria rolled over the island. Air Force spokespeople say that the parts for the aircraft are on hand, and work has begun on repairing the damaged aircraft. There are aircraft on the base that are flying missions and are available. The current rotation is six KC-135s, operating as part of the 506th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron. It's expected that the damaged aircraft will be returned to service quickly, but damage assessments are still ongoing.

U.S. Air Force refueling tankers in the Pacific sustained damage this week during Tropical Storm Maria, Military.com has learned.

The storm affected Air Mobility Command tankers stationed at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, officials confirmed Friday.

Maria rolled over Guam Wednesday and Thursday before being upgraded to a typhoon on Friday.

"Maintenance is underway for the AMC aircraft impacted," spokesman Maj. Bryon McGarry said in an email.

"Parts are available, and it is anticipated the impacted jets will return to the fleet in the near future,” he said, adding that it was KC-135 Stratotankers that were affected. “While we won't go into operational details, existing aircraft continue to ensure mission needs are met."

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a reply to: Zaphod58

Dam. Did they not have enough crews available to fly out the aircraft?

a reply to: grey580

Apparently the decision was made not to evac.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: grey580

Apparently the decision was made not to evac.

Wow, thats pretty crazy. A major storm with days warning and they choose not to move? Sounds like an officer about to be smacked on the knuckles hard.

a reply to: Pyle

I've seen a few that they didn't evac that later fizzled or turned, so they may have had forecasts that said that it was going to, and they rolled the dice. But whoever made that decision needs to get smacked. They easily could have gone to Kadena.

Someone should put a timelapse camera in the cockpit of one or more of those parked planes when a storm rolls over. I'm sure that would look dramatic.

It looks like three, possibly four aircraft damaged from this picture. Three were physically moved out of their parking. They're probably looking at wheels, brakes, and possibly hydraulics.

a reply to: Zaphod58
Looks like they are all CFM-56 powered too.

Darned if you do, and darned if you don't...

If you do evac and the storm fizzles you lost money out of a particular pot that could impact training/readiness down the road.

Don't evac and planes get damaged you lose money/readiness from a different pot of money.

I would not want to be a commander having to make that choice, unless you get lucky and choose the perfect course your career is probably going to be impacted in a negative way.

For those wondering about the days notice, lot of storms are not considered bad till the last hours before landfall as it hits warmer water the strength can spike changing an average storm into a bad one.

a reply to: thebozeian

There are none that aren't.

a reply to: Zaphod58
I'm embarrassed to say I didn't realize. I was under the impression that there were still some earlier powered aircraft in the fleet. Damned if I know how I wasn't aware of that.

a reply to: thebozeian

The only ones left that use the TF33 are the E-3, E-8, OC and WC-135.