Wednesday’s C-17 crash near Elmendorf AFB, Alaska, was the first Globemaster flight mishap leading to the loss of aircrew and destruction of the aircraft. The C-17 went down near Elmendorf during a training mission, killing all four airmen aboard (see above). As of mid-day Friday, their names had not been released. There have been other C-17 mishaps, such as a hard belly landing at Bagram Airfield in January 2009, but Air Force spokeswoman Capt. Tracy Bunko confirmed to the Daily Report that there have been none of Wednesday’s magnitude. With the loss of this C-17, the Air Force’s Globemaster fleet size initially fell from 199 to 198 airframes. However, USAF took delivery of its 200th C-17 early Friday (California time) during a ceremony at Boeing’s aircraft plant in Long Beach, Calif., bringing the inventory back to 199. The new C-17 is assigned to JB McGuire, N.J. Congress has authorized the Air Force to procure a total of 223 C-17s. So far, orders have been placed for 213 of them. The Air Force doesn’t want any more than 223.
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.