C-130 down in Indonesia (not US)

[Napoleon_Tanerite]

https://www.cnn.com/2015/06/30/asia/indonesia-military-plane-crash/

About as bad as it gets. Couldn't help but notice the article says there were 110 passengers and 12 crew on board. Seems high for a 130? Or not?

[StoleIt]

Said it was carrying cargo and pax hitching a ride to remote islands. Granted I have no idea what the usable weight is on a herk but I can't help but think some combo of weight and balance might have been a contributor...

[RASH]

High number of pax only if everyone has a seat and there's no cargo. USAF carries 92 pax max, and up to a max gross weight of 155k (175k wartime). If there was cargo and pax onboard, the pax were likely sitting on the floor/on each other's lap.

[disgruntledemployee]

Weight likely was factor, but its quite likely the crew didn't have the skills and practice to handle an engine failure/prop malfunction at takeoff. Or calculate TOLD properly and tell 20 people to stay put in the off chance the have an engine problem. And if it was an underpowered E model....

Common issues with some other countries that fly Mighty Herc.

Out

[DirkDiggler]

Did a JCET with those guys in 2010. The US arms embargo hit their military pretty hard, they had a serious lack of spare parts and experienced Mx personnel for the US aircraft in their fleet. They were nice guys and eager to learn but the lack of resources/training was very apparent (their Mx/FEs were very eager for classes on basic green machine shit like engines and props). One of the -130s I took a tour of had all the fuel gauges inop (they would just fill it up and call it good), another had some serious hydraulic issues that they didn't have the parts to fix but both planes were flown regularly.

The news report said engine trouble right after takeoff, my guess is they were close to/above 155K with a high temp dev and poor TOLD performance. Guessing further, I'd bet they hit either 1 or 2 engine out VMCA or had no 2 engine service ceiling and couldn't control the A/C sufficiently right after takeoff to make it back to the field. Sympathies for the crew, pax and their families.

[waveshaper]

Don't know if this is true or even possible "452 people on a C-130A"? Sounds like a BS/fish story.

Operation Frequent Wind-1975;

Excerpt; Roach said that throughout the day, approximately 125 airplanes flew into U-Tapao from Saigon,carrying a total of nearly 10,000 people. One C-130A Hercules aircraft landed with an incredible 452

people on board, including 32 people in the cockpit. A South Vietnamese F-5 pilot arrived with one

child on his lap, and one behind the ejection seat, Roach recalled.

“I had a friend in the tower who said that every plane that came in was calling out emergency signals, trying to get permission to land,” Roach recalled. “Every pilot was claiming he had the president of

Vietnam on board – anything to get clearance.”

https://www.nwfdailynews.com/local/when-saigon-fell-two-okaloosa-men-recount-their-roles-in-operation-frequent-wind-1.469826

Note; At the same time this was happening some RVNAF pilots defected. One F-5, flown by a RVNAF

defector, bombed the Presidential Palace. Also, 5 A-37's bombed Tan Son Nhut Air Base and destroyed a

number of US aircraft. One A-37 was flown by a RVNAF defector and the rest were flown by the

VPAF. These VPAF pilots were rapidly trained/upgraded to fly the A-37 by RVNAF defectors and were

flying combat missions in less than 30 days.

[Warrior]

Not BS. I remember hearing that story when I came through the C130 FTU.

In fact, I'm pretty sure that tail is on static display at little rock. Front gate maybe?

[bronxbomber252]

Yes, its the camo painted Herc by the main gate in front of the visitor center. Remember checking it out when I went through there in 2012.

[spaceman]

Yup it is still there today

[JBueno]

If my memory serves me correctly, the plaque at Little Rock mentions it was flown by 1Lt Brian Williams.

[Prosuper]

Worked at a MRO that did a PDM on one of their C-130's, it was it amazing that it made across the Pacific with one working altimeter and a hand held GPS plus feathering a engine for high EGT and just using it for takeoff. They loved what they got back but hated what we charged them so it was a one and done. I can only wonder what the rest of the fleet was like.