Loss of Tanker 130

Certainly almost every reader his seen the video of Lockheed C-130A Hercules N130111' Tanker 130 (USAF 56-538) operated by Hawkins & Powers, Greybull, Wyoming, shedding its wings during a retardait drop on 17 June at Walker, California. The crew of three died in the accident: Pilot Steven Wars, 42, of Fish Springs, Nevada; copilot Craig LaBare, 36, of Loomis, California; and flight engineer Michael D)avis, 59, of Bakersfield, California. The fleet of C-130A tankers wa,is grounded the next diy. The accident is being heavily investigated by numerous Parties and could lead to at permanent groundings of the C-1 30s. On 13 August 1994, C-130A Tanker 82 exploded while in cruise flight near Pearblossom, California. The three crewmebihers died.

Considerable concern has been expressed over the safety of A model wings and center sections. It is interesting to note that while in USAF service, this aircraft was modified to C-130A-II which means that the plane received a new center section box. According to sources, the aircraft had less than 2000 flying irs since the extensive modification.

Hawkins & Powers notified the FAA in April 1998 that an inspection revealed two one-inch cracks in the skin which were repaired. The Hercules had its last major 300-hr inspection in October 2001.

"Near simultaneous wing(4 failure -- I've never seen it before," stated George Petterson, the lead NTSB investigator at the crash scene.

The National Inte rai;ency Fire Center grounds the other six surviving C-I 30As the Forest Service has under contract to fight fires nationally among its fleet of 43 heavy tankers. AC

Copyright Challenge Publications Inc. Sep 2002
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