The student and instructor pilot in a T-6A Texan II trainer overshot a landing traffic entry pattern and failed to see a second T-6A with two onboard, thereby causing the midair collision of both airplanes last November, the Air Force said in a March 19 release on the findings of the board that investigated the incident. “The cause of this mishap was a result of pilot error,” USAF said. The accident occurred Nov. 28, 2007 near Gunshy Auxiliary Field, Miss., and resulted in the total loss of both aircraft. All four pilots sustained superficial burns and abrasions upon ejecting from the two airplanes.
The Air Force and Boeing agreed to a nearly $2.4 billion contract for a new lot of KC-46 aerial tankers on Nov. 21. The deal, announced by the Pentagon, is for 15 new aircraft in Lot 11 at a cost of $2.389 billion—some $159 million per tail.