Marine Corps KC-130 Crash in Mississippi claims 5

Refueling mishap and/or mid-air collision?
 
Horribly sad.

Tarheelpilot said:
Considering the wreckage is spread out over a five mile area I would say something happened in flight not very close to the ground. Just a SWAG
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"..flight last contacted air traffic controllers at an elevation of about 20,000 feet."
 
Is the KC-130 configured with troop carrying capabilities? The latest reports are saying 16 confirmed fatalities.

RIP Marines.
 
3393RP said:
Is the KC-130 configured with troop carrying capabilities? The latest reports are saying 16 confirmed fatalities.

RIP Marines.
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Yes. Sometimes centerline seating is removed. I remember Fat Albert crew chief saying they could take up to 16 just with the outboard bulkhead seating. Even that I think was more to a demo restriction rather than total capacity. You can fit quite a few just on the outboard seats.
 
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News this am is saying this particular C130 was configured as a refueler. May or may not be relevant. It was a CAVU day around this area yesterday. Something went very wrong to take that plane out of the sky.
 
Sounds like they had a load of ammunition as well.
 
arkvet said:
News this am is saying this particular C130 was configured as a refueler. May or may not be relevant. It was a CAVU day around this area yesterday. Something went very wrong to take that plane out of the sky.
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.

The "K" in the aircraft type identifier denotes the aircraft was a tanker. That's why I asked if it had seating for personnel, because I have no idea how much of the cargo bay is utilized for fuel tankage in a Herc configured as a tanker.

(Edit: I found that the KC-130T can carry 86,000 lbs of fuel in its standard wing tanks, and that fuel can be used for flight or tanker ops. A 3,600 gallon auxiliary tank can be carried on the cargo deck as well.)

The latest block number identifier for current build C-130s is a "J" suffix. The accident aircraft has been identified as a KC-130T. I am unfamiliar with the "T" suffix in a Hercules type identifier, so I did a search to find some information.

I found a website page that describes the C-130T as a logistics support aircraft built for the Navy, used for movement of unique cargoes, special forces and other niche functions. It mentions that the Marines fly the KC-130T and its ability to refuel other aircraft, but doesn't elaborate further.

I then found that the the 12 KC-130T aircraft now operated by the Marines (the Marines have retired 12 aircraft since the article linked below was written) were a block number first built in 1983. There were a total of 28 KC-130s manufactured. The latest model of the tanker, KC-130Js, were built beginning in 2004 and the line is still in production.

The Marine Corps Reserve also operates 24 KC-130T's (a tanker configuration) but they do not perform the same type of missions as the Navy Reserve C-130T's.

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/aircraft/c-130t.htm
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I think pretty much all tankers can carry troops...I've only hitched rides on normal C130's (set up for cargo and for PAX), however my entire unit, which was tiny, was able to fit on a KC-135 with our gear without a problem...

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3393RP said:
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The "K" in the aircraft type identifier denotes the aircraft was a tanker. That's why I asked if it had seating for personnel, because I have no idea how much of the cargo bay is utilized for fuel tankage in a Herc configured as a tanker.

(Edit: I found that the KC-130T can carry 86,000 lbs of fuel in its standard wing tanks, and that fuel can be used for flight or tanker ops. A 3,600 gallon auxiliary tank can be carried on the cargo deck as well.)

The latest block number identifier for current build C-130s is a "J" suffix. The accident aircraft has been identified as a KC-130T. I am unfamiliar with the "T" suffix in a Hercules type identifier, so I did a search to find some information.

I found a website page that describes the C-130T as a logistics support aircraft built for the Navy, used for movement of unique cargoes, special forces and other niche functions. It mentions that the Marines fly the KC-130T and its ability to refuel other aircraft, but doesn't elaborate further.

I then found that the the 12 KC-130T aircraft now operated by the Marines (the Marines have retired 12 aircraft since the article linked below was written) were a block number first built in 1983. There were a total of 28 KC-130s manufactured. The latest model of the tanker, KC-130Js, were built beginning in 2004 and the line is still in production.
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Been on a few KC-130T flights. Never had an aux tank in the cargo area for the ones I was on. I suppose that would take out the centerline seats. We had plenty of seats on the bulkheads open just for the handful of us that went up.

They might have been on XC for a field exercise. Possibly explains the reported ammo cook off. In the Army we usually transported all ammo in a separate aircraft without PAX when we went to the field.
 
You're on the money. I saw a news story that said the personnel were a special forces unit going to Yuma then on to Pendelton for training.
 
3393RP said:
You're on the money. I saw a news story that said the personnel were a special forces unit going to Yuma then on to Pendelton for training.
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Ok, that makes sense. They probably just had their personal load out. If we had a crapload of ammo, we would just designate a whole other aircraft to transport it.

Sad deal though. Hopefully we'll hear something in the next few months on what went wrong.
 
Yeah, it's a real shame. I won't say it was a structural failure, but what else could it be? They were supposedly cruising at FL20 and it departed controlled flight.
 
3393RP said:
Yeah, it's a real shame. I won't say it was a structural failure, but what else could it be? They were supposedly cruising at FL20 and it departed controlled flight.
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No idea. I know of one report of "structural failure." Not sure where the guy got his info from. Another report of a "boom" and the aircraft spinning down. No telling what happened.

Feel for MARSOC though. That's a small community and this is their second aircraft accident in two years. Army UH-60 crashed in Florida in 2015, killing 7 Force Recon Marines.
 
Yes, what do we have in the history of causes for losing similar a/c in the past?
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
Yes, what do we have in the history of causes for losing similar a/c in the past?
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If we're looking at structural failure, only one I recall is the water bomber out in Cali years ago. Not like that is a trend for the type though.
 
One report mentioned an eye witness saying there was smoke coming from one engine as it was spiraling down. Could an engine failure have caused structural or control failure?
 
Croomrider said:
One report mentioned an eye witness saying there was smoke coming from one engine as it was spiraling down. Could an engine failure have caused structural or control failure?
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If the engine was on fire it could have weakened the metal potentially causing structural failure.
 
I understand that one engine impacted quite a ways from everything else. Like a mile away.
 
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130's were/are used, for decades, as tactical transport (low level routes, landing on beaches, dirt roads and strips, etc.) and they take a structural beating. My understanding is the Marines use their "K's" for a lot more than just tankers. If, as someone noted earlier, the airplane was from a block built in 1983, it is (was) an ancient warrior. . .Our USAF "E" models, built in 1962-63, started showing structural issues by the early-mid 80's - fuselage/wing straps with cracks, as I recall, and other issues. The "E" models were used extensively for tactical airlift - low-level routes flown pretty fast, getting kicked around a lot at 300' AGL, with some fairly aggressive maneuvering. Assault landings on dirt could be "firm" enough to collapse seats in the back. Just about all non-special use 130s can be configured full of seats, or with a clean floor, or with rollers down, or a mix.
 
a knowledgeable but unofficial source related to me the aircraft was a well traveled one, and in 2004 was blown over/tilted on its wingtip while on the ground during a bad storm. Presumably anything from back then would have been well inspected... and or repaired..
 
You have to wonder if that incident caused damage that took thirteen years to manifest itself.

The accident aircraft was built in 1993.
 
It sure is interesting. I'm most curious to see if there really was an in flight fire and why it wasn't identified or suppressed in a timely manner.
 
The older models had to be pulled from use as fire tankers after someone pulled off a wing. Those planes live a hard life.
 
I thought of this incident when I heard what happened:

http://www.vpnavy.com/vp47ditch.html

Number 4 threw a blade, which took out the other three engines. The loss of hydraulic power caused them to momentarily lose control of the aircraft. In this instance, they regained control and successfully ditched the aircraft.
 
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