Air Force’s new C-130 J aircraft crashes near Gwalior, five killed

mangaloretoday.com

Gwalior, March 28:  The Indian Air Force’s new C-130 J aircraft, has crashed near Gawlior in Madhya Pradesh after taking off from Agra. All five air force personnel on board were killed.

Nearly an hour after it took off from Agra, one of the Indian Air Force’s newest and sturdiest aircraft crashed near Gwalior, killing all five people on board.

The U.S.-made C-130J Hercules military transport aircraft came down, 72 miles or 115 km west of Gwalior, while on a routine training mission.

The Defence Minister said it had ordered an investigation into the cause of the accident. The black Box and the flight data recorder of the aircraft have been recovered and could help unravel what went wrong.

 

The heavy-lift cargo aircraft  was one of six bought for the air force at a cost of $962 million or 6,000 crores in 2011.

India had recently deployed one of these aircraft to take part in the search and rescue operation for the missing Malaysian MH370 flight.
Today’s was the first crash of a Hercules aircraft of the Indian Air Force, which has been plagued for years by the crashes of its Russian-made MiG-21 fighters.

In August last year, in a strong message to China, the Indian Air Force today landed its C-130J Super Hercules transport plane at the world’s highest airstrip Daulat Beg Oldie (DBO) in Ladakh near the Line of Actual Control, the scene of a stand-off with Chinese troops in April 2013.
 
The landing signalled that the armed forces can use the heavy-lift aircraft to deliver troops, supplies, and equipment to the border with China.
 
This is only the 3rd crash of C-130J in the past 15 years. 

The Indian Air Force C-130J planes are configured for special mission roles and are fitted with an infrared detection set, enabling precision low-level flying.  The cargo aircraft can land on unpaved surfaces and requires a very short take-off and landing space.

India plans to purchase another half a dozen C-130 J aircraft but before it does that, the Air Force will want to determine the exact cause of this tragic accident.