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.
The Air Force has spent more than two years studying cancer risks to Airmen who work with the service's intercontinental ballistic missiles. Now lawmakers in Congress are placing fresh scrutiny on the issue and have prepared legislation that would direct the service to clean silos and launch facilities.