The safety 
investigation board looking into last week’s fatal C-17 crash convened Monday at JB Elmendorf, Alaska, to begin its inquiry, base spokesman Bob Hall told the Daily Report. The C-17 went down shortly after takeoff from Elmendorf on a training flight July 28, killing the four airmen aboard. The aircraft was assigned to Elmendorf’s 3rd Wing. News of the safety investigation’s beginning came as base officials released photos of the C-17’s wreckage. (See Elmendorf report by SrA. Cynthia Spalding)
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.