Last week in Ohio, a Boeing C-17A Globemaster III from the 445th Airlift Wing, based at Wright-Patterson AFB, was involved in Class A ground mishap during engine start. The mishap was a fire in the number three engine and appears to have caused damage to the number four engine, the right wing, and a portion of the fuselage. Thankfully, the fire was contained and the crew was able to egress safely.
The 445th was activated in the Reserve on 1 October, 1994 with personnel from the 906th Fighter Group and 907th Airlift Group. Originally the unit operated the C-141 Starlifter, which included the famous Hanoi Taxi. In 2005, after being the last operator of the C-141, the unit transitioned to the C-5 Galaxy. The Wing began transitioning from the C-5 to the C-17A Globemaster III in 2010 and received their first jet in January of 2011.
The Globemaster has a very impressive safety record for the incredible amount of flying she has done in a relatively short period of time. The first C-17 airframe entered service with the USAF in January of 1995 and the type has reached two million flight hours, just short of 15 years in service, during an airdrop mission in December of 2010. Even more impressive than two million flight hours in 15 years is the one million hours accumulated by the entire Globemaster III fleet between 2006 and 2011.
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