Pacific Air Forces new C-17 fleet at Hickam AFB, Hawaii, is now flying missions around the Pacific and over to the US Central Command area of responsibility in Southwest Asia. Recently a Hawaii-based C-17 supported Exercise Foal Eagle in South Korea, transporting US Army Strykers to the Korean peninsula. Meanwhile, another of the new airlifters made the first trip for the joint active-Air National Guard C-17 operation at Hickam from Hawaii to SWA, stopping over in Colorado and Germany on the way. Once in Iraq, the C-17 was to fly two missions, one to Mosul and one to Baghdad.
The crash of a T-38 trainer jet this May—which caused a weekslong pause in flights across the fleet—was caused by an improperly installed pin for one of the jet’s horizontal stabilizers, according to a new accident report released Oct. 30. When the pin disengaged midflight, it created the slightest amount…