A safety investigation board and an accident investigation board are reviewing the crash of an MC-12 surveillance airplane in Afghanistan last month that killed its four aircrew members, announced Air Combat Command officials on Wednesday. ACC chief Gen. Mike Hostage convened the SIB to quickly determine the cause of the crash and recommend safety measures to prevent future accidents, states the command’s May 15 release. The AIB, led by Brig. Gen. Donald Bacon from the Air Staff’s intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance office, will investigate the mishap and produce a publically releasable report on its findings, according to the release. The crash occurred on April 27 “in an uninhabited area 112 miles northeast of Kandahar Airfield,” states the release.
Since President Donald Trump first unveiled his “Golden Dome” missile defense initiative in late January, much of the focus for it has been focused on space—how the Pentagon may deploy dozens, if not hundreds, of sensors and interceptors into orbit to protect the continental U.S. from missile barrages. But the Air…