We’ve had two crash landings at Bagram since I’ve been here.
Neither of them were my fault.
The first was back in October when a USN P3 came in hard and executed what is affectionately called a belly-flop on the runway here. I heard about it days later, though apparently it was the talk of the base.
I received a couple of emails from home, one of my father’s Navy buds being a former P3 crew member. They asked what I’d heard about the incident, which at the time was next to nothing.
I inquired a little from time to time afterward, and heard that it was pilot error, that the landing attempt was all FUBAR, and that the pilot was relieved of duty afterward. Luckily, there were only minor injuries to the crew, though the plane received considerable damage and sat at the end of the runway for several weeks before being towed off to one side. There it has sat ever since, and I see it’s scarred exterior every time I drive home from the other side of post.
The second crash landing we had was just yesterday, when a C-17 (one of the largest airplanes in the US fleet) touched down with its landing gear up. My colleagues on the other side of post, which is closer to the airfield, said they could hear the horrible, grinding and crunching noise when it occurred, though they didn’t know what it was at the time.
Like the first incident, the crash landing blocks all fixed wing traffic and results in longer lines at the chow hall and shower points. Transients hoping to get out of Bagram pile up as the delay
stretches on.The story of this crash comes out just as slowly as the first, and it turns out to be much the same tale. Though we’re initially told that the landing gear had collapsed, the final verdict is pilot error. Simply stated, the crew forgot to put the landing gear down.
We hear later, through word of mouth, that the crew was very experienced and frankly had been overconfident, that they’d turned the volume down on the many automatic warnings, bells, and whistles (they call the automated voice “Bitching Betty”).
The plane would sit at the end of the runway for several days before being lifted up, the landing gear lowered without incident, and then it’s rolled off to the side of the airfield where it will be assessed to see if it can be repaired and flown out.
The alternative, I’m told, is that it will stay in Bagram and slowly be cannibalized for parts. It’s the fate of the P3 that crashed some 4 months ago, that I’ve seen almost every day since.
USN = United States NavyFUBAR = F’d Up Beyond All Recognition
