WAR: British C-130 Hercules Crashes in Iraq, At Least 10 Dead

A British C-130 military transport plane crashed north-west of Baghdad on Sunday. The Ministry of Defence stated they do not know what had caused it to crash at this time, though there are rumors that it may have fallen to hostile fire. Early estimates are that as many as 15 British troops died in the crash. The Hercules, a US-built troop carrier used by both British and American forces, is capable of transporting around 50 soldiers.



Normally a C-130 carries a crew of 6, however the plane does have a capacity to carry 50 combat ready troops. One report on MSNBC stated the capacity was 90, however I think that is wrong. I sure hope no one was injured or killed, however it seems unlikely, since reports are stating the wreckage was scattered over a large area. Lets hope there were only a minimum number of personnel on board, if that is not the case and the plane was fully loaded this could turn our to be the worst crash since the war began.

I will update the story as more details come in from more then one or two sources. I would not want to speculate on something like this, so I will wait for confirmed facts before posting them.

Related News Links:
www.billingsgazette.com


[edit on 7-2-2005 by Banshee]

This is terrible! I surely hope there will minimum personnel onboard, like you said. It would be a great tragedy if there were 50 troops onboard when it crashed

I wonder what the response will be from the general British public if soo many troops had lost their lives, and in an accidental crash too?

Very Sad indeed, From what i have heard from UK news is that we will have an update from Tony Blair shortly...
Rescue teams are on the way to the crash sight,


UPDATE.

..Tony Blair has confirmed british deaths in Hercules but has not said how many at this time..

The Prime Minister has confirmed the deaths of British troops killed after an RAF transport plane crashed in Iraq.

The Hercules aircraft came down 25 miles north-west of Baghdad heading to the city of Balad.


A British Army spokesman in Iraq said: "We can confirm that a UK C130 Hercules has crashed in central Iraq.

SKYNEWS



[edit on 30-1-2005 by asala]

My Uncle is the Wing Commander in charge of the UK Hercy bird fleet, I hope he wasn't on this and the crew is alright, as I am sure he will be affected by this.

Lets also hope it wasn't carrying troops, as those birds can carry 300 men.....

I will be watching with interest...

Originally posted by stumason
Lets also hope it wasn't carrying troops, as those birds can carry 300 men.....

Just for the record; Britain's Royal Air Force flies several versions of the American-built C-130 Hercules aircraft, which is mainly used to carry troops, passengers and freight. The older C-130K model has a crew of five or six and carries up to 128 troops. The newer C-130J version has a crew of three and can also carry up to 128 infantry.

Lets not come up with figures that are not confirmed ok. There is a big differance between 128 and 300, that is why the media always gets things twisted, they never check the facts.

Found this site which gives all the spec on the C130.
c130.robins.af.mil...

Accommodation: crew of two, with provision for third person, plus loadmaster; up to 92 troops, 64 paratroops, 74 litter patients plus attendants, 54 passengers on palletized seating, or up to five 463L standard freight pallets, etc. Dimensions: span 132 ft 7 in, length 97 ft 9 in, height 36ft10in.

This is sad news for all concerned. My thoughts go out to all who are affected by this.

The wreckage is said to be spread over a wide area,
It is thought that the Hercules may have also been part of a special mission connected to the elections today,

Its not clear just yet it the plane was carrying equipment or persons…. Also they say if anything its more likely that up to 50 could have been on board, but still this is only speculation as only the crash its self has been confirmed,

From the sounds of the description of the crash site, hostile action seems plausible. Mainly because of the large area the wreckage has spread over. That indicates the plane exploded or came apart in mid air, or when it hit the ground, it hopped, jumped, ect.

I hope it was equipment they were transporting, but it doesnt sound like it.

With both the US President and British Prime Minister paying tribute to the dead and yet no news on numbers of dead, I think we have to brace ourselves for very bad news.

This silence and no update info is killing me.

I wonder if the fact that the plane went down right around sunset has anything to do with the silence?

Very tragic development on this monumentous day for Iraq, can only hope for minimum casualties and from causes not human-error related like the 1999 Hercules crash in Albania when the load was not properly strapped down...

UPDATE....


News Just in... As reported on Skynews,



Up to 15 UK troops have thought to have died in the Iraq Crash,

There is major speculation that the plane may have been shot down,
As weather conditions in the area was fine; it is said we may here more tonight by 10pm UK time (10 mins from now) if not then tomorrow morning,

Originally posted by asala
UPDATE....


News Just in... As reported on Skynews,



Up to 15 UK troops have thought to have died in the Iraq Crash,

There is major speculation that the plane may have been shot down,
As weather conditions in the area was fine; it is said we may here more tonight by 10pm UK time (10 mins from now) if not then tomorrow morning,

Who s making the speculation asala? Is that one of your local news stations? Sky news makes no mention of any speculation at all.

Skynews

Skynews have a reporter there and one outside the MOD.

It was mentioned that they don’t suspect the figure to rise above 16,

Also Skynews tend to take a little while to update their site,

It was a Skynews reporter on the ground that mentioned that talk there was that it may have been an attack....We have skynews 24/7 on our channels...

Again none of this has been confirmed as of yet.

Awaiting further updates & until the families are notified... we only can speculate on the cause of the crash...

on Jan 12th Captain Kurt Kresmer had stated:

“They’re obviously watching us fly in and out. Their tactics have changed.

“They’re trying to get up small arms fire to hit us.”

also

that Balad was described as one of the airfields C-130 crews “like the least”.

and

“Every member of the crew who can afford to take his eyes off the instruments keeps a lookout for ground fire.”

news.scotsman.com...

UPDATE

C-130 military transport plane crashed Sunday north of Baghdad, scattering wreckage over a large area, officials said. As many as 15 people were killed, news reports said.

The crash occurred at around 5:25 p.m. about 20 miles northwest of Baghdad, a spokesman for the British Ministry of Defense.

Quoting military sources, Britain's Press Association news agency said the figure was "around 10," with it "highly unlikely" to be more than 15.

Source

I sure hope they are right on the numbers considering what the potential could have been. Only time will tell keep your fingers crossed.

[edit on 1/30/2005 by shots]

According to "7's 4:30 news" (for those of us in australia)

There was a former australian left-tenant (no idea how to spell that) on board.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - An Iraqi militant group has claimed responsibility in an Internet statement for downing a British military transport plane north of Baghdad on election day.

The Ansar al-Islam group said in a statement posted Sunday on an Islamic Web site that its fighters tracked the aircraft, "which was flying at a low altittude, and fired an anti-tank missile at it."

British officials have not said how many people died when the plane sent down, but Britain's Press Association has reported that "around 10" servicemen were killed, quoting military sources. The toll was "highly unlikely" to be more than 15, the news agency reported.
Iraq Militant Group Says They Downed Plane

There are up to 15 British casualties but there could also be US casualties (maybe special forces) on top of that.

It's a war zone, and they are armed forces, this is what they enlist in the army for. Planes will get shot down and troops will get shot. Same for the other side, well except for the planes of course. What's the big deal?