Settling a dispute that has run over a year, the Las Cruces City Council voted Monday to accept an offer of $603,754 from the Air Force to repair the city’s airport runway that was damaged by a USAF C-17 carrying equipment for a Presidential visit. Loaded with vehicles and equipment, the airlifter caused a half-mile of ruts on the runway, which had been softened in the desert heat, when it landed on Aug. 26, 2004. The city filed a $2.1 million claim last November against the Air Force, saying that officials with the Las Cruces airport reportedly told the White House that the runway could not handle the weight.
KC-46’s Refueling Boom Damaged While Refueling F-22s
July 8, 2025
A U.S. Air Force KC-46 tanker suffered damage to its boom while refueling F-22 Raptors off the coast of Virginia on July 8, Air & Space Forces Magazine has confirmed, with reported radio communication from the crew indicating the boom “detached.”