Bagram Airfield Crash

[Couver]

I'm betting it's a K9 unit MP.

Listen close you hear him shush the dog when it whines.

[hunt4m3x]

shit, that's probably what happened, a vehicle broke free on takeoff, slid to the rear of the plane, and caused nose up stall. At least, that's my extensive BF2/BF3 expert opinion.

lol @ BF2/BF3

[likeitfast55]

Damn, have we not progressed far enough to make it where it doesn't end up as a fireball upon crashing?

Were they dumping fuel, or at least trying to?????

They did not have time to scratch their ass, what-less dump hundreds of thousand pounds of fuel. Remember JP-4 weighs 6.84 lbs per gallon. They had 163 to 176 tons of fuel for a transatlantic flight.

No time to dump any fuel. Transport aircraft take off way heavier than they can land.
Latest word they had MRAP vehicles in the cargo hold.... 7 tons ea.

[Big Dad]

makes me think of this song

God bless the fallen/wounded , Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, National Guard or anyone I have forgot ..

[Danny46]

Given the massive payload of a 747 and it had 5 vehicles as it's cargo, they were probably extremely heavy vehicles, just one is all it would take, I'm sure likeitfast can comment on that in better detail though.

Possibly, I'm interested to see what exactly these vehicles consisted of. I was a C-130 loadmaster, and there are a ton of variables running through my mind on this. Theoretically the Center of Gravity limitations have a slight margin for error, however you start getting into extremes i.e. pushing the plane for a "zoom climb" on take off due to enemy activity, heavy take off weight, etc and a slight shift in CG can throw it all off. Absolutely crazy video to watch; just how quickly the aerodynamics come apart is humbling.

[KBScobravert]

Since it has been hit so many times here already.

From my office in Bagram:
Looks like it climbing so steep because its load shifted. What does a MRAP weigh? You can figure out from that what happened.

The cockpit literally landed on a connex/office (one way in/out) and crushed the container. My two employees were stuck inside for 2 minutes trying to bash down the door to escape. Roof inside was already smoldering and the heat was melting the paneling. All they heard was a plane on take off that sounded like engine trouble. Their office being at the end of the runway of an airstrip that is one of the busiest in the world. So take that for what it is worth. Next thing they know they hear an explosion and feel the impact as it threw them to the floor. The got up to find the door buckled and stuck. Once they battered their way through it they ran, turning around to see the cockpit on fire above their connex. Can you talk about holy shit??!!!!!

The bus driver was probably looking at something else driving. The truck the camera was recorded from; yep nerves of steel that guy. He may not have realized it at the time but he was capturing the best vantage point to be used in the investigation. Now I can imagine that Base Ops wants a word with him though about why he has video recording on the base while driving around though.

The other shitty part. National Airlines is who we use for Charter in and out of Afghanistan. They absolutely suck ass. The passenger plane we ride is a piece of shit. I am talking about ducktape on the wings piece of shit. Lately they have been leaving Dubai only to turn around after an hour and return to the airport citing one problem after another. Roughly 3+ times a week so 50%ish. Same company. They were completely grounded for all of 2 days and are back in the air today with our employees on board. Uh, I will find my own ride thanks. Cheapest contract and all. I would much rather be on ESJ or DFS cause National is unreliable and just scary. Now I completely believe this tragedy was caused by shifting cargo but still, another nail in the coffin of this piece of shit contract.

[Mike K]

Keith... wow!!! great to hear your guys made it out alright. Talk about counting your blessings.

I had just landed (Aerotech flight from Dubai) several hours before this happened. At first I thought it was due to turbulence/crosswinds as our flight coming in was scary as hell. In the 8 years I have been contracting I have been on some pretty rough rides, but it was honestly the worst flight I have been on. We came in half-sideways and landed with a bounce.

[KBScobravert]

Keith... wow!!! great to hear your guys made it out alright. Talk about counting your blessings.

I had just landed (Aerotech flight from Dubai) several hours before this happened. At first I thought it was due to turbulence/crosswinds as our flight coming in was scary as hell. In the 8 years I have been contracting I have been on some pretty rough rides, but it was honestly the worst flight I have been on. We came in half-sideways and landed with a bounce.

No shit right! We interviewed them (not my first choice of actions) and one guy was calm, almost Xanax calm, the other guy was a wreck. They both accepted they were gonna die inside that container but kept trying. It took both to Fred Flintstone the door down. Can you imagine turning around and seeing a fucking plane on top of you? I for one would NEVER work or even walk into a connex/office ever again.

Plane is still blocking the road. Waiting for NTSB to come conduct their inquiry.

The last week BAF has had some pretty gnarly storms and the weather has been very unpredictable. I imagine these pilots that take these contracts couldn't get work in the States flying commercial. lol

[talisman]

Jesus, that it is sickening.

Since it has been hit so many times here already.

From my office in Bagram:
Looks like it climbing so steep because its load shifted. What does a MRAP weigh? You can figure out from that what happened.

The cockpit literally landed on a connex/office (one way in/out) and crushed the container. My two employees were stuck inside for 2 minutes trying to bash down the door to escape. Roof inside was already smoldering and the heat was melting the paneling. All they heard was a plane on take off that sounded like engine trouble. Their office being at the end of the runway of an airstrip that is one of the busiest in the world. So take that for what it is worth. Next thing they know they hear an explosion and feel the impact as it threw them to the floor. The got up to find the door buckled and stuck. Once they battered their way through it they ran, turning around to see the cockpit on fire above their connex. Can you talk about holy shit??!!!!!

The bus driver was probably looking at something else driving. The truck the camera was recorded from; yep nerves of steel that guy. He may not have realized it at the time but he was capturing the best vantage point to be used in the investigation. Now I can imagine that Base Ops wants a word with him though about why he has video recording on the base while driving around though.

The other shitty part. National Airlines is who we use for Charter in and out of Afghanistan. They absolutely suck ass. The passenger plane we ride is a piece of shit. I am talking about ducktape on the wings piece of shit. Lately they have been leaving Dubai only to turn around after an hour and return to the airport citing one problem after another. Roughly 3+ times a week so 50%ish. Same company. They were completely grounded for all of 2 days and are back in the air today with our employees on board. Uh, I will find my own ride thanks. Cheapest contract and all. I would much rather be on ESJ or DFS cause National is unreliable and just scary. Now I completely believe this tragedy was caused by shifting cargo but still, another nail in the coffin of this piece of shit contract.

Just wow. Glad you're okay man.

[fastwhite99gt]

The lightest MRAP is 13 tons, the heaviest ones are 27 tons. They use MATV's, Cougars and Maxpro's for the most part in Afghanistan. To put 5 in an aircraft other than the huge Russian plane, they would about have to be MATV's.

[KBScobravert]

The lightest MRAP is 13 tons, the heaviest ones are 27 tons. They use MATV's, Cougars and Maxpro's for the most part in Afghanistan. To put 5 in an aircraft other than the huge Russian plane, they would about have to be MATV's.

I am hearing 3 which makes me think MRAP/MaxxPro

[Mike K]

My management (Navistar) has said they think it is only 1 MaxxPro, don't know about what other MRAPs were on it. I was just wondering how many vehicles we lost.

[ceyko]

I for one would NEVER work or even walk into a connex/office ever again.

Although I can appreciate how a connex is constructed and this just goes to show how tough they are - I'd be in the same boat. Disliked them anyway you cut it, but I'd resign on the spot and get a lottery ticket when back stateside.

[scott442]

Saw a thread on YellowBullet and remembered this old thread. NTSB report recently released.

3.2 Probable Cause

The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was National Airlines’ inadequate procedures for restraining special cargo loads, which resulted in the loadmaster’s improper restraint of the cargo, which moved aft and damaged hydraulic systems Nos. 1 and 2 and horizontal stabilizer drive mechanism components, rendering the airplane uncontrollable. Contributing to the accident was the Federal Aviation Administration’s inadequate oversight of National Airlines’ handling of special cargo loads.

http://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/A...ts/AAR1501.pdf

[CJ]

This is disappointing to read.

According to the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) transcript, while the airplane was parked on the ramp, crewmembers discussed that some cargo had moved, some tie-down straps had become loose, and one strap had broken sometime during the flight from Camp Bastion to Bagram. About 1428, the first officer brought it to the captain’s attention that “one of those…straps is busted,” and they discussed a “knot.” The first officer described that there were “a bunch” of straps to keep the cargo from moving forward and “a bunch” to keep it from moving backward and stated that “all the ones that were keeping ‘em from movin’ backwards were all…loose.” The augmented captain made some joking statements, and, about 1429, the captain stated, “I hope…rather than just replacing that strap, I hope he’s beefing the straps up more.” The first officer stated, “he’s cinching them all down.” About 15 minutes later, the loadmaster joined the conversation. The captain asked, “how far did it move?” The loadmaster responded that “they just moved a couple inches.” The captain commented, “that’s scary” and “without a lock (for those big heavy things/anything) man, I don’t like that.” The captain then stated, “I saw that, I was like…I never heard of such a thing.” He later stated, “those things are so…heavy you’d think, though, that they probably wouldn’t hardly move no matter what.” The loadmaster replied, “They always move….Everything moves. If it’s not strapped.” The transcript contained no further discussion about the straps or cargo. ."