USAF C-17 Globemaster makes emergency landing in Halifax

[Good2Golf]

U.S. C-17 makes emergency landing in Halifax
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Updated Sat. Dec. 29 2007 6:28 PM ET

CTV.ca News Staff

A U.S. military transport plane with a crew of fifteen made an emergency landing in Halifax on Friday because of an on-board fire.

The 15-member crew of the C-17, one of the largest planes of its kind, made the unscheduled stopover while on its way from South Carolina to Germany.

A fire in the hold forced it to make the landing at Stanfield International Airport.

"It was enough to set off an alarm to alert the crew that there was an issue in the hold," Peter Spurway, spokesman for Stanfield Airport told CTV News.

He said the pilot radioed the control tower about 9:45 p.m. on Friday, asking to make an emergency landing. Emergency fire crews were then placed on standby.

CTV News learned that the plane was transporting a truck known as a Chevy Suburban. The vehicle itself was the source of the heat which set off the smoke alarm and forced the landing.

"When the aircraft landed and taxied, they were in a position to deal with the cause of the alarm, which turned out to be the vehicle," Spurway said. "It was removed from the plane and taken care of."

The crew's commander, Lt. Col. Tim Harris, told CTV News that smoke from the burning SUV filled the aircraft and that crew members had to use portable oxygen masks in order to breathe.

The plane landed without incident and the crew checked into a nearby hotel.

When the crew flies out of Halifax, planned for Saturday evening, the charred Suburban will be left behind.

With a report by CTV Halifax's Marc Patrone

 

[1feral1]

Lucky crew!

 

[Good2Golf]

I would have been thinking something along the lines of, "Ramp down, drogue released, 5, 4, 3, 2, green go!" 

G2G

 

[1feral1]

I would think thats what it would have been if they were no where to do an emergency landing.

 

[gaspasser]

I have to ask the obvious...
Why does a US C-17 need a crew of 15...and the Canadians fly with 5 or 6 ???
Other than that, who checked the load to make sure it was secure and cooled down before loading?
My 0.02 worth .

 

[Good2Golf]

I would think that since Chevy Suburbans don't normally spring into spontaneous combustion, there must have been some fault with the vehicle that was not detectable by the LM during the load.  The number of the crews may also include other crew or pers dead heading back on the aircraft.

G2G

 

[gaspasser]

Roger, thanks for clarity.
8)
edited to add:
"The 15-member crew of the C-17, one of the largest planes of its kind"
Sorry, I can think of a few more LARGER ones of thier kind.  Anyone in Trenton see that beastie An225 a few weeks ago???  Dang, she's a big bird!! 
Cheers.

 

[midget-boyd91]

the C-17, one of the largest planes of its kind

Are there different variants of the Globemaster which have a different size, or are they talking Transport planes in general?

Can you imagine being someone on the ground watching the plane overhead if it did drop the suburban.  ;D
"Grab your shovel, Billy-Sue. We's got some scrap metal to pick up."

 

[aesop081]

Are there different variants of the Globemaster which have a different size,

No

 

[GDawg]

CTV News learned that the plane was transporting a truck known as a Chevy Suburban.

How exotic!

Seems like a awfully big and expensive plane for such a task, how many SUVs could this bird carry?

 

[beenthere]

The posted news article certainly has raised a number of interesting questions and observations. The article is typical in that someone in a newsroom was given a few facts and they had to weave them together to make a story.
Here's my take on the story:
"Crew of 15". That is quite possible as sometimes people who are more like passengers than crew are listed as crew members. One explanation could be that because of the nature of the cargo passengers can not be carried. That happens sometimes when cargo items are classified as dangerous or hazardous. For example vehicles are often classified as dangerous or hazardous because of fuel in their tanks. That doesnt make them particularly dangerous or hazardous but that's the way it goes. According to the books which classify things as dangerous or hazardous lots of things fall into this category. Steel wool is one of the things that I recall as being listed as dangerous.
Sometimes people such as maintenance or other operational personnel who are traveling on duty get listed as "crew" to get around the prohibition of carrying passengers and dangerous or hazardous cargo together.
Also, it used to be that the C-17 carried a group of about 6 people to service the aircraft when it made stops for fuel or to pick up or discharge cargo. Obviously they are necessary as there are no qualified personnel at en route stops and the 2 pilots and 1 loadmaster can not provide these functions as well as carrying out their own duties.
"One of the largest planes of its kind" It certainly is. Its the only plane of its kind and its large.
"It was transporting a Chevy Suburban" Yes and no doubt a lot of other things but the Suburban was the only thing that was smoking.
"Who checked the load"? Lots of people check vehicles and other equipment that is shipped by air and most often there are very specific inspections that have to be carried out before a piece of equipment is accepted for shipment. However there are lots of things that can cause problems that are one of a kind.  Modifications, loose parts, chafed wires and items which have been stashed under seats or in other areas can cause lots of problems when subjected to motion caused by vibration or turbulence and changes in atmospheric pressure.
The extent of the fire was not mentioned in the story either. It could have been quite small but when the cargo starts smoking there's no time to fool around.
There are still some parts of the story that may be incorrect.
Can anyone find them?

 

[Good2Golf]

I still love the quote bit:

CTV News learned that the plane was transporting a truck known as a Chevy Suburban.

It's best if you use "quotey fingers" when saying "Chevy Suburban".  ;D

 

[beenthere]

Am I "over quoting" or are you just trying to be "smart"?  ""

 

[Good2Golf]

Am I "over quoting" or are you just trying to be "smart"?  ""

No, beenthere, nothing with your quoting, I just love the way the press described a Sub....makes it sound kind of conspiratorial...a vehicle known as.....DUN DUN DUHHHH! "a Chevy Suburban"  ;D


If the reporter had gone further, they might even had provided additional details, such as the "Chevy Suburban" being powered by a substance "known by some as gasoline." 

Cheers,
G2G

 

[armyvern]

I once drove an aformentioned Chev Suburban -- It ROCKED!!!

I was also once on the back of a herc with a dozer chained in, and wiggling about over the Arctic and north of sixty --- it rocked not so much.

 

[Ex-Dragoon]

Damn I thought it was one of those nuclear propelled ones that the CIA uses to hunt down AQ armed with the death ray

 

[armyvern]

No, beenthere, nothing with your quoting, I just love the way the press described a Sub....makes it sound kind of conspiratorial...a vehicle known as.....DUN DUN DUHHHH! "a Chevy Suburban"  ;D


If the reporter had gone further, they might even had provided additional details, such as the "Chevy Suburban" being powered by a substance "known by some as gasoline." 

Cheers,
G2G

Perhaps, they may even downgrade the SEC enough to make mention of the electronic gadgets & indicators someone has surreptitiously installed into it's dash.  8)

 

[beenthere]

A few years back we flew two armoured limos from Ottawa to Vancouver in a C-130. The loadmaster put a couple of passengers in one of them after takeoff so as to make their trip more comfortable. Somewhere over the prairies I went back and sat in the other one for a while and I checked out the cellphone --that's when cellphones were rather uncommon and sure enough I managed to make a call back to my home in Trenton. Pretty neat. When I went back to the flight deck I told the rest of the crew about my call and just as I was telling them I realized that I'd missed a perfect chance to pull someones leg. I could have called MACCS in Trenton on the cell and requested an HF phone patch to our aircraft and asked the First O (young copilot) to check something on the engineers panel for me. Of course he would never be told about the cellphone in the back and would be totally puzzled about what had gone on and would probably spend the rest of the flight trying to figure out just what had gone on. It would have been one of those classic leg pullers.

 

[Armymedic]

Damn I thought it was one of those nuclear propelled ones that the CIA uses to hunt down AQ armed with the death ray

They are actually fueled by a quantum generator. The heat is syphoned to form the death ray....


oops....OPSEC, crap.

 

[geo]

No, beenthere, nothing with your quoting, I just love the way the press described a Sub....makes it sound kind of conspiratorial...a vehicle known as.....DUN DUN DUHHHH! "a Chevy Suburban"  ;D


If the reporter had gone further, they might even had provided additional details, such as the "Chevy Suburban" being powered by a substance "known by some as gasoline." 

Cheers,
G2G

Maybe we should get CTV to start a new survey poll
Make sure that no one takes Chevy Suburbans into the Air ever again  >