A C-5B transport lost cabin pressure and was diverted to Westover ARB, Mass., on a flight from Ramstein AB, Germany, to Dover AFB, Del., as a safety measure. The airlifter, carrying 25 aircrew and passengers, was cruising at 34,000 feet over the Atlantic Ocean on Feb. 8 when it suddenly depressurized, according to a base release. The Air Force initially reported no injuries, though a Westover spokesman later said one female passenger was hospitalized with minor injuries, reported CBS Boston. “When this incident developed today . . . [the aircrew members] got the checklists out and they brought that airplane down safely and quickly,” said MSgt. Andrew Biscoe. “They came down to 25,000 feet and then down to 10,000 feet and all the oxygen equipment deployed,” he said. Emergency crews at several East Coast bases stood by to help, just in case, states the CBS report.
Hickham Air Force Base in Hawaii is trialing novel energy technology to provide electrical power and hydrogen fuel in the kind of isolated and austere outposts the Air Force will need in the Pacific theater for its new Agile Combat Employment way of warfare.