U.S. plane crashes in Afghanistan

[Coventina]

Source: Reuters

KABUL (Reuters) - A U.S. navy patrol plane was destroyed Tuesday when it overshot the runway while landing at a base north of the Afghan capital, but none of the crew was seriously hurt, the U.S. military said.

"A Navy P-3 Orion airplane overshot the runway surface while landing at Bagram Air Field. The airplane sustained serious structural and fire damage," a military statement said. One crew member suffered a broken ankle.

The incident was under investigation, it said.

Bagram is the largest U.S. military base in Afghanistan, located just north of Kabul.



Read more: http://uk.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUKTRE49K11C20081021

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Well, at least everyone was able to limp away...

[FightingIrish]

1. I spent over 2,000 hours in P-3s. It always hits me personally

when there is an incident. I'm glad they all got out OK. I'd be curious to know what our highly trained and and equipped sub killers are doing in Afghanistan. Since we got involved in these wars, I've found then on Google Earth parked in some pretty strange places.

[MgtPA]

2. That hit me too - what are P-3Cs doing in Afghanistan? Can't imagine much use for sonobuoys...

...over there. I spent some time on Orions too (software development during the 1970's & 1980's).

[bdab1973]

7. They aren't hunting subs...

They have a mission...I won't go into details but electronic warfare and reconnaissance is a big deal in both Iraq and Afghanistan.

[MgtPA]

10. That's good to hear! I'd heard that the Lockheed assembly line was shut down a few years...

...back (don't know how true that was), but I'll always have a soft spot for a P-3. Glad to hear they survived the cold war!

[olddad56]

14. That was my first thought.

As a former flight crew member of one of the two elite navy elint squadrons, that was my first thought. The one I was in got it's first P-3 in 1969.

I'm happy that the crew survived.

[MaineDem]

4. Oh you youngsters...

My husband was on Neptunes. :D

[DemoTex]

15. I flew Lockheed SP-2E Neptunes in Viet Nam

Mostly at night. Mostly over the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos. No subs there, either.

[MaineDem]

17. Coffee on the Wingbeam

I think we've had this conversation before but have you ever read "Coffee on the Wingbeam?" It's a great book written by the P2V driver about this Viet Nam days. It's very entertaining.

[DemoTex]

18. I do remember our discussion about "Coffee on the Wingbeam."

I was never able to find the book. Maybe the Naval Aviation Museum carries it. I'll check.

Do you remember if the author's P2V missions in Viet Nam were maritime or over land? Was he Navy? The USAF and US Army flew P-2 variants, mostly in Laos. The Navy P-2s mined Haiphong harbor at one time, IIRC.


US Army ASA SP2-E at Naval Air Facility, Cam Ranh Bay
(photo by DemoTex)

[MaineDem]

3. I wonder where they were based? Which VP squadron?

We (for a little while yet) have squadrons here in Maine. There's always one or two on deployment somewhere.

[MgtPA]

5. Is Brunswick still open?

[MaineDem]

6. For another year, yes.

One squadron is going on deployment this year and not coming back. They'll return to Jacksonville. The rest will leave by the end of '09.

[MgtPA]

9. I have some very good memories of Brunswick from the late 1970s and early 1980s...

...Brunswick birds were the first to receive new hardware/upgraded software, so I was tapped for fleet training back in the day. Loved the lobster!

[MaineDem]

11. I have memories of Brunswick in the early 70s

A fun place to party. :evilgrin:

[MgtPA]

13. Yeah, and the sailor were cute :)

[paparush]

8. John Sidney! Is that you?

[puerco-bellies]

12. When I signed up for the Navy I signed as an ASW, they made me an OS..

The P3's can probably detect the magnetic signature of a weapons cache as well as electronic broadcasts and "leakage". It is likely they can detect something as small as a crate of rifles from the air depending on the surrounding clutter.

[MaineDem]

16. Plane from BNAS squadron crashes in Afghanistan

BRUNSWICK — A P-3 Orion aircraft from Brunswick Naval Air Station crashed in Afghanistan today. One crew member suffered a minor injury.

...

John James, BNAS public affairs officer, confirmed that the aircraft was a Brunswick-based plane, but couldn't disclose which patrol squadron the craft belongs to.

The last time a Brunswick-based military plane crashed was just more than 30 years ago, according to research by The Times Record. On Sept. 22, 1978, a BNAS plane crashed at Poland Spring.

http://www.timesrecord.com/WEBSITE/MAIN.nsf/0/3C77C1A29882FEBF852574E900721CBF?Opendocument

So it was a local plane. Glad the news wasn't worse.