Daily Report

Jan. 13, 2010

C-5 RERP Ramps Up

Lockheed Martin announced on Monday that it has received the next funding increment to continue modernizing a portion of the C-5 transport fleet with new engines and reliability improvements. The $344.3 million infusion covers work on 15 aircraft during the...

Human Error Caused Fatal Collision

Air Combat Command investigators have found that an F-16 pilot's failure to reduce airspeed and execute proper maneuvers when rejoining his flight lead during a nighttime training mission over the Atlantic Ocean last October, led to a midair collision that killed the pilot and damaged the flight leader's aircraft. Both F-16s were from the 77th Fighter Squadron at Shaw AFB, S.C. The collision occurred 126 nautical miles southeast of the base. Capt. Nicholas Giglio is the pilot who lost his life. He never had a chance to eject, ACC said Monday in releasing the findings of its accident investigation board. His F-16 impacted the water and was destroyed. Capt. Lee Bryant was the flight lead that night. He was uninjured and managed to land his moderately damaged aircraft safely at Charleston AFB, S.C., according to ACC. (ACC release) (AIB report)

Charleston Takes Step Toward Joint Base

Air Mobility Command officials activated the 628th Air Base Wing at Charleston AFB, S.C., during a Jan. 8 ceremony. The new wing will be the host unit for JB Charleston that stands up at the end of the month. The...

Learning Curve

Depot officials at Robins AFB, Ga., say they learned much from working on a C-130 transport for the first time under a new construct called high velocity maintenance and are already applying those lessons successfully as they now tend to...

Solar Flare

Officials with the Ohio Air National Guard’s 180th Fighter Wing in Toledo, together with local politicians and industry representatives, on Jan. 5 celebrated the new phase of expansion of the solar project at Air Guard base near Toledo Express Airport....

Traveling Like an Airman Should

Basic military training graduates heading from Lackland AFB, Tex., to Keesler AFB, Miss., for follow-on technical training will now arrive by chartered commercial airliner and no longer by bus as had been the practice for decades. WLOX TV 13 of...

Pilot Error Cited in T-6 Crash

A student pilot's loss of situational awareness while practicing aerobatics in the skies near Columbus AFB, Miss., last July, caused him to eject from his T-6 trainer aircraft, resulting in the aircraft's loss, Air Education and Training Command announced Monday. AETC's accident investigation board determined that 2nd Lt. Falah Al-Obaidi, an international student pilot assigned to Columbus' 37th Flying Training Squadron, had incorrect airspeed while performing aerobatic loops during his July 9, 2009 flight. On his final loop, he chose to eject from the aircraft after it began a steep right bank dive from which he believed that he could not recover. He suffered minor injuries, while the T-6 was completely destroyed. (AETC release) (AIB executive summary)

Missing Vietnam War Pilot Found

The remains of Air Force Maj. Russell C. Goodman, who was shot down in an F-4B over North Vietnam on Feb. 20, 1967, have been identified, Defense Department officials announced Tuesday. They will be returned to his family for burial...

Air Sorties from SWA 011310

Air Sorties in Southwest Asia, Jan. 7-9, 2010 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total YTD ISR 84 98 182 524 CAS/Armed Recon 64 224 288 860 Airlift 476 476 1,398 Air refueling 126 126 377 Total 1,072 3,159 OIF=Operation Iraqi...