The Delaware Air National Guard’s 166th Airlift Wing has just passed 44 years without having a flying mishap. TSgt. Mike Smith with the National Guard Bureau reports that the wing has flown 166,000 accident-free flying hours, while operating the C-97 and now the C-130. Current operations keep the unit’s eight Hercules cargo haulers flying about one million miles a year.
The use of a military counter-drone laser on the southwest border this week—which prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to abruptly close the airspace over El Paso, Texas—will be a “case study” on the complex web of authorities needed to employ such weapons near civilian areas and the consequences of agencies…
