An Air Force Special Operations Command PC-12 light transport aircraft crashed July 8 on the runway at Hurlburt Field, Fla., during a routine training mission. “Initial reports show the aircraft encountered wake turbulence shortly before the accident,” the command said in a statement on July 9. The three persons onboard were uninjured. AFSOC said it will investigate the mishap. The PC-12 is designed to provide intratheater airlift support to special ops forces. The aircraft has the ability to operate on short and unimproved runway surfaces.
The Air Force awarded a $13.08 billion contract to the Sierra Nevada Corporation on April 26 for its Survivable Airborne Operations Center aircraft, the successor to the service’s E-4B “Doomsday” plane. Like the E-4B, officially called the National Airborne Operations Center, the SAOC will be meant to withstand a nuclear attack and keep…