Eight airmen were injured last week at Nellis AFB, Nev., when an outdoor shelter that shades aircraft on the flight line collapsed under the force of extreme winds. The airmen suffered minor injuries, were evacuated to the base hospital for treatment, and subsequently discharged, according to a Nellis release. Eleven F-16s and two A-10s were in individual bays under the canopy at the time. Nellis officials said the incident is under investigation and they are assessing the full extent of the damage to the aircraft and other items. They described the Sept 8 event as a microburst—a sudden, violent downdraft of air over a small area. The base experienced wind gusts as high as 67 miles per hour that day, reported the Las Vegas Sun.
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…