C-5 crashes at Dover AFB

Not sure if this is the right place for this but according to CNN a C-5 has crashed at Dover AFB.
Story

It's amazing, considering the damage to the airframe, that nobody was killed.

Apparently 14 of the crew were covered with jet fuel, it's a lucky break that there was no fire.

yup, it had just departed and was carrying a full load of fuel. they are very lucky there was no fire.

i still dont understand exactly what happened though. they reported a problem with one of four engines (flameout). if this was the only problem, they should have been able to land without incident. i dont think the media is getting the full story.

At takeoff the C-5 doesn't fly so well on three engines if it's got a full load out. That's always been the problem with the Galaxy. Outstanding job of getting it down though

[edit on 4/3/2006 by Zaphod58]

updated story... with pictures

C-5 plane carrying 17 crashes at Dover air base....Officer: 'Miracle' that everyone survived




















[edit on 3-4-2006 by bigx01]

I think its cool how the C-5's entire cockpit detatches for cargo loading. *I Kid, I Kid*

but those are some pretty cool pictures...good thing no one died, and that it crashed in an open area.

Originally posted by Murcielago
I think its cool how the C-5's entire cockpit detatches for cargo loading. *I Kid, I Kid*

:

And how the front kneels down to facilitate loading

Glad nobody was hurt

From the looks of the left wing there was an engine fire on #1 engine. There's a big soot mark over the #1 engine mount.

Really a well built aircraft. How much fuel does one of those bad boys hold?
I'd have thought the weight of fuel might have done some big damage on contact from the mass alone... hmmm, doesn't seem to be any big stains on the ground from the fuel if it leaked out either... great pics thanx. Any bets on if the fuel tanks had enough/the right fuel in them? Absolute miracle for the crew if the tanks were full... way bad day if the weren't fueled properly. The pilot and crew did a great job.

Fuel Capacity - The C-5 Galaxy has 12 integral wing tanks with a capacity of 51,450 gallons (332,500 pounds) of fuel — enough to fill more than six standard railroad tankers!

www.theaviationzone.com...

It carries more fuel than most civilian airlines weigh at their max takeoff weight.

they were on their way to spain, so they had a full load of fuel. the article said that they had been in the air for about 10 minutes. that means that they were most likely climbing out through at least seven thousand feet, already talking to washington center, and northeast of sea isle damn near abeam atlantic city. at that altitude, i still dont understand why they had so much trouble if the only problem was a single engine failure. even fully fueled they should have had no trouble getting back to dover. there must be something they arent telling us.

Look just over the #1 engine mount. The wing is burned. If there was an engine fire it could have done all kinds of damage to flight controls among other things. Not to mention it just happened less than 24 hours ago, how much more can the know already???? Give them a little more than 1 day to figure it out.

Man those C-5 are huge look how tiny the firetrucks look next to it. Your average firetruck is what like 40ft long?

That much mass flying through the air, Im glad nobody was killed in this crash seem very lucky IMO

It really was a miracle no one was killed. But on those photos I cant see where the huge tail ended up!

Most planes are built to limp back to port with the loss of one engine but I think its a bit early for the usual "they must not be telling us something" conspiracy talk yet! The fire may have been caused by a more deep seated problem which caused the crash or as Zaphod said the fire could have caused control problems.

The tail was in the field near the fuselage. They showed it on the news here tonight and they had a shot of the tail laying there. Tail number 80059 I think it was, based at Dover.

Ouch, but planes have to be abled to fly on 3 engines at MTOW if I'm not mistaken.

They were just talking about the C-5 on either the History or National Geographic Channel the other day. One of the points that they brought up was that the C-5 always had trouble flying on three engines when it was maxed out on weight. Takeoff and climb out were always the worst because if they lost an engine they were in more trouble than an airliner.

There has been one three engned takeoff for a C-5. It was damaged by hostile fire in Baghdad. The things they went through to get it out to a base in the Middle East to repair it were insane.

“We got our most qualified crews together for this unique mission,” said Lt. Col. Scott Campbell, 3rd Airlift Squadron commander and ferry flight mission commander. “We just happened to have a Special Operations Low Level II crew available. We wanted to make sure the crew had some experience leaving with only three engines.”

While the ferry mission aircrew came from Dover AFB, the aircraft itself is assigned to the 60th Air Mobility Wing at Travis Air Force Base, Calif. Special Operations Low Level II aircrews receive additional training above and beyond the normal C-5 crews in order to meet the unusual and rigorous demands of flying special operations missions.

To prepare for the ferry mission, the hand-picked Dover crew spent two hours in the C-5 flight simulator practicing various flight scenarios they could expect to face while flying with only three engines, according to Colonel Campbell. Flight simulators are an integral part of normal everyday aircrew proficiency training. In contingencies such as this, simulators can be used to train crews to face the specific hazards they may face on dangerous or unique missions.

When the aircraft was determined flight ready, final preparations for the ferry mission kicked into high gear. Capt. Joey Greene, a weapons and tactics officer from Dover AFB on temporary duty at the Combined Air Operations Center at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, had the principal duty of designing a plan that would assist taking the crew through harms way. The CAOC is the principal center for coordinating the use of all coalition air power in the Middle East region.

Captain Greene worked with Army and Air Force planners to ensure a safe air corridor for the damaged jet. Coordinating with the Army’s Battlefield Coordination Detachment at the CAOC, Captain Greene arranged for coalition ground soldiers and helicopters to secure the area along the aircraft’s flight path. Additional coordination brought in fighter air escorts to provide air cover during the critical takeoff phase.

public.amc.af.mil...

There have been incidents where they HAVE climbed out and landed safely on three engines, but this one really looks like it had a fire on #1. The pont was brought up about flash fire when the engine broke off, but that looks like sustained smoke damage along the wing, like the engine burned for awhile first. It's entirely possible that the engine was on fire and they didn't know it, just that they had lost power.

A couple of years ago there was a GE 747 out here testing the new 777 engine. One day after flying for hours and having an uneventful test, they landed, and on rollout the control tower called them and said the engine was on fire. There were no indications at all on the plane. And this was with dozens of sensors plugged into the engine to monitor more parameters than normal.

Woah... I never realised how huge those planes are! The emergency vehicles look like toy cars in comparison!

If you're a C-5 "noob" like me, check out this Pic!

Very lucky nobody was killed.

Yeah, but that's with it kneeling Xeroxed. Try these.

www.airliners.net...
www.airliners.net...
www.airliners.net... (look up on top, behind the nose)
www.airliners.net...
www.airliners.net...
www.airliners.net...
www.airliners.net... (the one that was hit in Baghdad)
www.airliners.net...

Wow... that's one big mother!
Some very nice shots, too.