USMC KC-130J/F-35B midair near KNJK

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Poor guy sounds awful shook.

Burn all the dollars you must, just bring everyone home.

If you mean the pilot talking on the radio, oh man, I'd be s***ting myself too. Who knows if that wing is gonna hold until you can get it on deck. I don't mean this in a crass way, but (K)C-130's haven't exactly had the greatest track record of not disintegrating in flight in the last few years. Like you said, great that they got to go home......so many tiny variables could have changed to make that not the case. Also I'm sure a pretty strong dose of solid flying and aviatorship. Someone pointed out the decision making that seems to have led them to choose to pass up the paved field a few miles away for an immediate landing. That's pretty solid judgement IMHO if true, even if they are used to landing in the dirt.
 
If you mean the pilot talking on the radio, oh man, I'd be s***ting myself too. Who knows if that wing is gonna hold until you can get it on deck. I don't mean this in a crass way, but (K)C-130's haven't exactly had the greatest track record of not disintegrating in flight in the last few years. Like you said, great that they got to go home......so many tiny variables could have changed to make that not the case. Also I'm sure a pretty strong dose of solid flying and aviatorship. Someone pointed out the decision making that seems to have led them to choose to pass up the paved field a few miles away for an immediate landing. That's pretty solid judgement IMHO if true, even if they are used to landing in the dirt.

Yeah but this is a J model according to the OP. My buddy recently transitioned into them from the legacy and says it is night and day. I thought all the ones that fell apart recently were old models.
 
Yeah but this is a J model according to the OP. My buddy recently transitioned into them from the legacy and says it is night and day. I thought all the ones that fell apart recently were old models.

they were. But with that kind of damage and the resultant vibrations in the airflow, any aircraft could be potentially compromised structurally to where it’s unknown whether there’s 1 minute or 1 hour of structural integrity left. Likely too that with drift down, they possibly didn’t have the power to maintain altitude and it was a matter of where the remaining engine was going to take the plane to.
 
they were. But with that kind of damage and the resultant vibrations in the airflow, any aircraft could be potentially compromised structurally to where it’s unknown whether there’s 1 minute or 1 hour of structural integrity left. Likely too that with drift down, they possibly didn’t have the power to maintain altitude and it was a matter of where the remaining engine was going to take the plane to.
Oh I am not questioning the decision to put down in the field. He did mention a possible fire on frequency.
 
Oh I am not questioning the decision to put down in the field. He did mention a possible fire on frequency.

no, I didnt assume you were at all; I was just saying that while the previous accidents with structure issues of KC-130s were indeed the older T models, just the damage with this newer J model....would be interesting to see what’s found from a structural perspective inside of that wing and attach point, that can’t be seen.
 
Yeah but this is a J model according to the OP. My buddy recently transitioned into them from the legacy and says it is night and day. I thought all the ones that fell apart recently were old models.

The Japan USMC tanker midair a few years ago was a J as well. Doesn't really have much to do with differences in airframe between models there, that one took a fighter (an F/A-18D) to the dome as well. But you are right about the other 2 I can think of, which were earlier variants, and unrelated to in flight refueling.
 
@MikeD or anyone else, this is probably a stupid question but is there a bailout/parachute procedure for a C130 Refueler? Is that an option for anyone on the plane?

I'm sure they have a controlled bailout procedure. I don't think any of the other 3 mishaps I can think of in the last 4-5 years would have lent themselves to such a thing. Heck, an E-2 has a bailout procedure. Worked a month ago but (if I'm not forgetting one) the last time it was tested resulted in all but the PIC getting out. He rode it in to maintain control so that the others would live.
 
LT Zilberman

Since I think it is worth remembering. This is who I was talking about. A few years ago I was in our version of "recurrent" survival training, and as is commonly poll'd to the class, the instructor asked if anyone had ejected from an aircraft. LT in the back raised his hand and said he bailed out of an E-2. Turns out he was the right seater on that bird. Wouldn't have been there without this guy giving his life.
 
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