The accident investigation board convened by Air Mobility Command to review a Nov. 2, 2009, incident with a C-21 at Ali Base, Iraq, has found the flight crew responsible for letting the aircraft depart the end of the runway and sustain about $1.8 million in damage. According to an AMC release Feb. 3, there were four crew-related factors involved. First, the crew didn’t reduce speed and altitude sufficiently. Second, they failed to complete the checklist for a high speed partial flap landing. Third, they didn’t realize they hadn’t enough runway left. And, fourth, the crew failed to initiate a go-around to ensure there was sufficient runway for a safe landing.
While U.S. defense officials have spent much of the past decade warning that China is the nation’s pacing threat and its People’s Liberation Army represents an urgent threat in the Indo-Pacific, several defense researchers are skeptical that the PLA has the human capital, the structural ability, or the political appetite…