Wednesday, December 5, 2018, 6:17 pm News Flash Archive

CBS News is reporting just now that the military investigation into the crash of the KC-130 near Itta Bena in July 2017 has concluded that the crash, which killed 16 crew members, was preventable, and was caused by faulty maintenance back in 2011 to the propellers.

The investigators just finished briefing the families of the victims of the crash.

According to the report, one of the propeller blades was corroded, and detached from the engine and sliced through the fuselage. The damage to the engine and remaining blades caused the entire propeller assembly to detach from the engine and spin into the plane's body, severing the cockpit from the rest of the plane. The two sections of the plane then plummeted 20,000 feet to the ground, killing all on board.

According to the report, the propeller blades had been inspected in 2011, but the corrosion was not detected.

All the maintenance records were destroyed in 2013, making it impossible to ascertain who precisely is at fault.

CBS quotes the current commander of the maintenance facility, Brig. Gen. John Kubinec, as saying: "The procedures that were in place in 2011, those procedures if properly done should have detected that corrosion in 2011. The corrosion should have been detected. Why it wasn't, we don't know."

The entire news story may be seen here: CBS News on Military Plane Crash investigation

John Pittman Hey
The Taxpayers Channel

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