US Air Force jet disappears over English Channel [safe landing]

A US Air Force refueling jet is said to have disappeared over the English Channel.

The Boeing KC-135R Stratotanker went missing en route to Mildenhal, Suffolk from Amiens, France when it disappeared.

No official statements have yet been made, but speculation holds that the plane may have experienced a mid-flight emergency over the English Channel.

www.independent.co.uk...

It's just a matter of time until they lose more.

That was cryptic Zaphod.....know something about the Channel?

I remember Glenn Miller disappeared over there back in the 40's or something.....

Hmm, yeah.. was that a hint at something?

Aircraft landed safely. They experienced an undisclosed emergency, but were able to recover at Mildenhal.

a reply to: Thorneblood

Nothing to do with the channel. The youngest KC-135 is 50+ years old. They're getting harder to maintain.

All comments removed in light of information herein this thread.

Nice work.

DailyFail-to say not sure how trustworthy it is,- here, says,

But US Air Force confirmed that it landed at RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk


Despite the confusion the jet landed safely at its base in East Anglia an hour later, the US Air Force confirmed.

Sources say that plane can carry up to 31,000 gallons of fuel. That's a lot of valuable fuel, if not "shot down". The implications of it dissapearing...wow.

a reply to: Aqualung2012

Quid 72 declared an emergency at 12:20am, while over the channel. They were able to land at Mildenhal at 1:20am.

A tanker frequently flies as a solo. They're used for many missions, from dragging fighters as they move from base to base, to moving cargo, to flying as a medevac.

I would still prefer to fly on a 135 across the pond than just about anything else I've flown on.

In light of what we now know, the title of the OP should read "US Airforce jet disappears over English channel and then almost immediately reappears again"

a reply to: paraphi

It was apparently off radar for almost an hour. It disappeared off radar and FR24 at 1220, when they declared an emergency. It landed at 120, without reappearing on FR24, which means the transponder didn't start broadcasting again.

A test run of ''new'' radar cloaking tech?

When is airforce one going longhaul again?

a reply to: Ranong

Not on a KC-135.

It was made clear that the aircraft had an emergency of some kind.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: paraphi

It was apparently off radar for almost an hour. It disappeared off radar and FR24 at 1220, when they declared an emergency. It landed at 120, without reappearing on FR24, which means the transponder didn't start broadcasting again.

yup by off radar i assume they had an electrical system failure that took their transponders off air.

i seriously doubt they disappeared off the raw radar but without a transponder signal some ATC systems
may treat the return as noise and filter it.
and you can be sure it was very much still there on any air defence radar.

a reply to: ShayneJUK

Most likely since it dropped off tracking sites as well.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
Aircraft landed safely. They experienced an undisclosed emergency, but were able to recover at Mildenhal.

A new triangle? The Channel Triangle...where two planes disappeared, but only one reappeared?

I foresee a new cottage industry, Nessie in Scotland and a new triangle....

Thanks Zaphod, for clearing the situation up. Your expertise in this area is always appreciated.

Thanks too, to Masqua for editing the title for me.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: ShayneJUK

Most likely since it dropped off tracking sites as well.

Indeed however do US, RAF or anyone else's for that matter actually show up in sites like flight radar24 etc

the only ones i ever see now n then are the MI5/met police birds out of RAF northolt london

a reply to: ShayneJUK

Sure. An RC-135 and an E-3 Sentry were tracked on FR24 during the Libya campaign while flying their missions. Eventually all aircraft will show up on it. Military aircraft have the option of turning it off during their missions though, unlike commercial aircraft.

In fact an RC was tracked during a recent incident where the US complained about the Russian fighter got too close during the intercept.