Two civilian pilots flying a Piper 31 Chieftain charter aircraft with five passengers from the Netherlands to Geneva, Switzerland, earlier this month made a safe landing thanks to Maj. Peter Olson and his A-10 Thunderbolt from the 52nd Fighter Wing at Spangdahlem AB, Germany. The Piper experienced an electrical system failure at 11,000 feet while flying over an overcast Germany. The only working pieces of equipment were a hand-held radio and a small portable GPS unit. The pilot alerted German radar controllers, who notified Olson, who was returning to base after a training mission. Olson tried to contact the Piper on the radar control’s search and rescue frequency, but the message was too faint. Then the Piper pilot saw the A-10 below and followed to a safe landing about 15 minutes later.
Boeing received a $2.47 billion Air Force contract Nov. 25 for 15 more KC-46s, bringing to 183 the number of Pegasus tankers on contract to all customers, foreign and domestic. The new contract—for Lot 12 of the initially planned KC-46 buy—is to be completed by 2029.
