air tanker down...

[scudrunner]

Is Craig LaBare from Hawaii?

 

[mattjenna]

My thoughts went straight to you Mike when I saw the story here on TV in Australia.

I'm so sorry about the accident-it's sobering and saddening when something like this happens-another pointer to the fragility and preciousness of our lives.

My thoughts and feelings to the family and friends of those good men-including you Mike.

Matt

 

[inline]

I was privileged to fly with Steve Wass, the capt on the Hawkins and Powers C-130A that crashed at Walker Lake Monday. Flew out of Klamath Falls the fall of '93 with him. Competent, and easy going, he was great to work with.

One helluva tanker pilot.

 

[publisher]

Avbug

Avbug

Excellent post.

I really had no appreciation for this flying until I went to work for Evergreen many years ago.

When I started AviationCareer.net, it was to tell the stories of people who do this type of flying, whether it be law enforcement, drug eradication, fight fires, Con Air, etc.

There are jobs out here that are not Delta Airlines and a 767. There are people out here that fly for joy, under paid, under appreciated, but who have forgotten more about what the term aviator means than many who post here.

They are not concerned about scope issues, nice uniforms, sick days, or ALPA. They do not fit in boxes, or read much gouge, do message boards, all they do is fly. They fly what someone points them at. Their destination is not CVG but a piece of mountain somewhere.

One of my critic's on this board said that I always was showing my contempt for airline pilots. That is not true and I have many friends that fly in that position and I respect them for what they do. Perhaps it is more appropriate to say that the pilots of this C130 not only have that respect but I stop to salute them.

May they return as Eagles and fly the forrest forever.

 

[TurboS7]

AMEN!!!!!Lets not let them go unforgotten.

 

[Timebuilder]

"...and He will raise you up on eagles' wings, bear you on the breath of dawn, make you to shine like the sun, and hold you in the palm of His hand..."

-Craig Courtney

 

[avbug]

Steve had a pretty good sense of humor. You can bet that if he returns as an eagle, he'll be dropping bird wax on every car that enters the forest.

 

[Hovernut]

Video Link Updated

I just updated the crash video link on my page. It now includes another angle of the crash from an amateur video source, post crash fire and debris field, and the last interview the (hero) pilot gave prior to losing his life in the line of duty. It also mentions that the same a/c had cracks repaired a couple years earlier.

John, Longwood, FL

Avbug, thanks for the PM, I responded, but your mailbox is full. I mourn your loss.

Crash Video

 

[Av8trxx]

Wing cracks?!

Here's a prelim, with some eerily similar accidents profiled below:

17 JUN 2002 Hawkins & Powers Aviation
Lockheed C-130A N130HP near
Walker, CA, USA

Please note this information is preliminary; new information will be added on the Aviation Safety Network at
http://aviation-safety.net/index.shtml.

Date: 17 JUN 2002
Time: ca 14.45
Type: Lockheed C-130A Hercules
Operator: Hawkins & Powers Aviation
Registration: N130HP
C/n: 3146
Year built: 1956
Engines: 4 Allison T56-A
Crew: 3 fatalities / 3 on board
Passengers: 0 fatalities / 0 on board
Total: 3 fatalities / 3 on board
Location: Walker, CA (USA)
Phase: Cruise
Nature: Fire fighting
Departure airport: Minden-Tahoe Airport, NV (MEV)
Destination airport: Minden-Tahoe Airport, NV (MEV)
Remarks:

Hercules N130HP was hired to fight a 10,000-acre wildland blaze near Walker, CA. After dumping a red cloud of fire retardant, the right wing separated from the aircraft at low altitude. The plane then lost control and rolled left. During this manoeuvre separated as well and the aircraft nosedived into the ground. The whole event just took about 4 seconds and was captured on video a passer-by.

In April 1998 two one-inch cracks were found on the bottom of a wing (the service difficulty report does not state which wing), at Outer Wing Station 33, which is 33 inch (83cm) from the wing joint. These cracks were repaired.

--------------------------------------------
Sources
--------------------------------------------
AP; FAA; video at BBC:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/americas/newsid_2051000/2051058.stm

--------------------------------------------
AIRCRAFT PROFILE LOCKHEED L-100/C-130 HERCULES
--------------------------------------------
* Last (civilian) hull-loss accident: 06 SEP 2000 T & G Aviation N116TG, at
Aubenas, France - 2 fatalities
* Last fatal accident: ibid.
* Total number of hull-losses: 39 civilian Hercules losses
* 3rd civilian Hercules loss during a fire fighting operation
Several Hercules planes have crashed following wing failures of some sort:

02 OCT 1980 - USAF C-130A - Crashed after losing part of the left wing leading edge during a low-level flight.
(http://aviation-safety.net/cgi-bin/dbsearch.cgi?mil+search+display+174&)

13 APR 1982 - USAF C-130H - The engine nr. 4 mounting failed, which caused the wing to break off.

(http://aviation-safety.net/cgi-bin/dbsearch.cgi?mil+search+display+184&)

12 MAY 1982 - USAF C-130E - Crashed after wing broke off while in formation flight.

(http://aviation-safety.net/cgi-bin/dbsearch.cgi?mil+search+display+186&)

02 APR 1986 - USAF HC-130P - Wing failure in turbulence at low altitude

(http://aviation-safety.net/cgi-bin/dbsearch.cgi?mil+search+display+203&)

23 MAY 1974 - Saturn L-100 - the left wing separated from the aircraft at about outer wing station 162

(http://aviation-safety.net/database/1974/740523-1.htm)

27 OCT 1974- Alaska Int. L-100 - In-flight failure of right wing near Station 183 (near the no.3 engine) in moderate turbulence.

(http://aviation-safety.net/database/1974/741027-0.htm)

13 AUG 1994 - Hemet C-130A - Right wing (including no.3 and no.4 engine) failed in-flight following a fuel tank explosion.

(http://aviation-safety.net/database/1994/940813-1.htm)



--------------------------------------------
OPERATOR PROFILE HAWKINS & POWERS AVIATION
--------------------------------------------
Company specializing a.o. in aerial firefighting from Greybull, WY
* website: http://www.hawkinsandpowers.com/
* Founded: 1969
* 3rd fatal Hawkins & Powers hull-loss accident

 

[avbug]

The problem that occured affected primarily the C-130A model, type II, of which only a handfull still exist.

As for the SDR about the cracked wings...I was in that airplane when they cracked, and did the repairs for which the SDR was written. The SDR doesn't do it justice, either. The crack was completely through the wing, and the wing has no internal structure, no spar...only a shear web. It's held together primarily by the thickness of the wingskin, which also forms each tank. If that skin cracks, the wing goes, period.

The similiar incident not described was Tanker 82, which crashed in 1994, with Captain Bob Buc at the controls. The circumstances are very similiar, and any of us that flew these airplanes knows exactly what happened. Beyond that, I'll make no comments on the events themselves until the "official" investigation does it's dance.

The airplanes will get another NDI inspection, and be sent back to the fire in a few days or weeks...just like always.