C-17 hit by AA missile in Baghdad

[RASTAMIKE]

Breaking news:

C-17 was hit at take-off today or yesteday late afternoon by a missile that blew one engine away and landed back safely at BIAP (ORBI/BGW)

[FlyboyBen]

Breaking News? Who broke it? Have you anything to back up this story?

[Flopster]

It ORBS/SAD, but that's another story ...

It's also on a Danish newssite, www.ekstrabladet.dk but prolly won't do you much good if you can't read Danish.

[747FOCAL]

Yah its all over the news here in the states. Wonder what happened to the self defense system??? Glad they made it back.

[Give a dog a beach]

Not sure if this is connected, but the RAF stuffed a C17 into KBL a couple days ago and struck a wing tip and pod into the runway. Word is the aircraft is close to a write off.

Maybe this is the official line being put out ????????

Cant believe they have lost 2 C17's in as many days ???

[DamienB]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2003/12/10/international0934EST0552.DTL

http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=8122

http://www.wtnh.com/Global/story.asp?S=1558392

http://www.news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=2282367

[OldCessna]

Anyone know if any civilian aircraft are operating into Baghdad since DHL problem.

If the military are having problems it would seem that DHL & others will avoid the place.

[747FOCAL]

DHL has restarted service, but after this event who knows.

[RASTAMIKE]

Anybody on ground BGW (Bush Georges W. ISO previously SDA for Saddam) to tell us what happened to this C-17. How the heck could be hit if the USAF spiral o/h airfield with all the imaginable countermeasures on automatic.... ???

[AdamCG]

U.S.: Plane Probably Hit, Lands in Iraq
10 December 2003
AP

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Guerrillas hit a U.S. Air Force transport plane with a surface-to-air missile, causing the engine to explode, a senior Pentagon source said Wednesday. The plane landed safely.

The C-17 had just lifted off from Baghdad International Airport before dawn Tuesday when the engine exploded, slightly injuring one of the 16 passengers and crew, said U.S. Air Force Capt. Carrie Clear of 447th Air Expeditionary Group, based at the airport.

The plane returned to the airport and landed safely, Clear said.

A senior Pentagon official, speaking on condition of anonymity, described the explosion as a direct hit by a ground-fired missile, "like the DHL" incident that damaged a cargo plane departing the airport last month. That plane, too, landed safely.

[CDB.A300]

Hi OldCessna,

yes their is an other airlines flying to Baghdad on behalf of DHL.
I get the information that it is a Turkish cargo company called MNG. They have dayly regular flight to SDA with an Airbus A300F4.

The crew must make a hell of a money ??? Do you think they get the JACKPOT ????
Who knows? Otherwise I wonder how they can accept such a Kamikaz mission..

Ciao

[Moose 9]

There are also guys flying B1900's into Baghdad for huminatarian aid companies however this is not scheduled flights.

[Flopster]

.... And a couple of daily An-12 fligths operated by a, ehh, Eastern European airline, on behalf of DHL.

I trust it was a joke when someone asked whether MNG crews made gazillions from flying into SAD?

The daily B1900, operated by a UAE carrier, is on behalf of FedEx.

Please note how the press reports that the missile hit the engine. Last time I checked, a C-17 had four of the things hanging from the wings. 2 each side, for symmetric appeal I presume.

[GrantT]

Has it actually been confirmed the C-17 was hit by a missile?

Edit: Nevermind, just read it has.

[GotTheTshirt]

Rasta,

Spiralling approaches take care of getting in:D
But what about the next bit;)

I see both hits were on Take off

[Sheep Guts]

Well after the last 2 months:


1. Falcon B1900 near miss with an RPG

2. DHLA300 written off with a recovery after being hit by a shoulkder launched SAM7

3. And now this C-17 having an Engine hit with similiar damage to the A300.

Me thinks they should close the airspace again. I know I wouldnt accept the contract into Baghdad, no matter how much it was negotiated for.:} :ugh: :uhoh:

OK. they are VERY VERY lucky that there have been no fatalities but really, do we have wait for such an occurence before common sense prevails. Common you guys lets move the Airport or get a handle on the security.


Sheep

[propulike]

Spiralling in/out - puts the aircraft in the same place in a predictable pattern but makes you feel as though you're doing something. Area to 'sanitize' (as our US bretheren say) to make this effective includes a proportion of Bagdad city. (Not a secret, numbers are in Janes.) Make that secure and we can all go home!

Stop flying, can't get aid/trade/resupply in and out and the whole country suffers, which you may say is the purpose of those doing the shooting.

But, fly in/out without defensive aids - you gotta be joking! I go, but I don't volunteer.

[interestedparty]

I wonder if anyone in the State Department remembers Dien Bein Phu?

[RASTAMIKE]

State department and the US governement in a whole have rather short memory.

Did you notice the big difference between the DHL and now the C-17 ?

The A-300 was immediately reported, plenty of pictures on the net etc....

When an US military aircraft is hit : censorship

there must be a lot more going on in Iraq that we don't know...
there is a war going on out there

[Deske]

The same strory like the Russian invasion in Afganistan.(1979-1989).

Try to search on the NET,how many Ilyushin-76s were lost over Kabul during that time.This C-17 is not the last one.

The same war,the same (but with other symbols) empire,the same politics and the result with the losses also will be the same.

The history repeats itself.

(The Author is from a counrty in Europe that was occupied by the Sovietunion for 46 years given by the "great and democratic" western world led by the U.S. Thank You in the name of destroyed lives)

[AfgAirOps]

It ORBS/SAD, but that's another story ...

Er, it's any / all of; ORBI, ORBS, SDA & used to be BGW.

SAD is Safford, AZ [Safford Municipal Airport], USA

The daily B1900, operated by a UAE carrier, is on behalf of FedEx.

A FECA B1900 did used to operate daily but hasn't been here for a while. Air-Serv have usually a couple of flights a day with B1900Ds.

[RASTAMIKE]

In Afghanistan, the Mudjahedins fighting the soviets, they were supplied with brand new Raytheon Stingers. Countless MI helicopters and IL76 transporters were shot down with these missiles. SAM-7 or SAM-14 are outdated and reported as inefficient. So how can they nearly bring down a C-17, the latest in technology with all these IR, laser, electronic jaming countermeasures ? there is something wrong in Iraq....is the US army really fighting against terrorists ?

[Smirnoff Ice]

Does anyone know what aircraft are flying into Baghdad daily,
I heard something went in today.:ok:

[SALAD DODGER]

GUYS PLEASE DO NOT PLACE ANY INFO ON AIRCRAFT,TACTICS, MOVEMENTS AND DEFENCES THAT COULD BE USED AGAINST US. IT IS A REAL INTERESTING TOPIC BUT THIS SITE CAN BE VIEWED ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD AND IS NOT A SECURE FORUM. I AND MANY OTHERS ARE RISKING OUR LIVES TAKING RUBBER DOG !!!! INTO IRAQ, AND IT IS REALLY GOING TO PISS ME OFF IF SOMEONE ELSE GETS INJURED OR KILLED BECAUSE OF LOOSE TOUNGUES OR IDLE GOSSIP. PLEASE JUST THINK BEFORE YOU WRITE SOMETHING.

IF I CAN LOG ONTO PPRUNE IN IRAQ, SO CAN THE BAD GUYS......RANT OVER

[lomapaseo]

Salad, in spite of your strong protests, there is the opposite camp that feels that measured advice on this forum to the pilot community is at least a step ahead of ignorance with all the smarts resting in the other guys hands.

It would seem that all the other guy can benefit from this is to realize that his weapon of choice availablity is not always up to the defense chalenge.

Thus I just as strongly urge for the guys to not heed your protests.

[Flight Detent]

lomapaseo,
What a d*ckhead you are, such a stupid thing to say!!

Jeeeeez!!

[GotTheTshirt]

Salad and Flight

If you think that what goes on at this site compromises safety in any way then you both really need to surf more.

There is nothing on here that cannot be seen in a zillion other sites on the web.

In fact many times it only serves as a reference point for other sites

[Sooty]

Just remember Salad Dodger is the one flying into there, not all the armchair warriors and technical experts that seem to exist on this site!! Sure I agree that there is probably less than 0.01% chance of some information on this site being of any significant use, but people should still think before they post. You never know.

[Nineiron]

Iamopaseo "It would seem that all the other guy can benefit from this is to realize that his weapon of choice availablity is not always up to the defense chalenge."
I think that there is at least an A300 crew and a C-17 crew that might not agree with that.

[GotTheTshirt]

Sooty,

If Salad Dodger is there as Military then he has my respect.

If he is there as a civilian then he is being adequately re-compensed and if this site troubles him then he really should not be in Iraq.

p.s Not all of us are armchair warriors!:cool:

[ATC Watcher]

While the DHL guys have all my sympathy and I loathe the b*#stards that did this as they knew they were targetting a civilian aircraft ( see the latest photos in newsweek !) I do not see the difference between the C17 crew and the poor GI that get killed everyday in the streets in Iraq. It is a war situation, if you are a military and shoot a people you can reasonably expect that at one point of another someone is going to shoot back at you.
Before someone raise the partiotic US flag, I want to say that the above is meant in a generic way.

Mixing civil operations in a war zone is a serious issue, but military a/c getting shot at in that war zone is unfortunately a fact of life.
Beside this I am glad the Guys recovered (almost) safely.