Washington (May 03, 2018): An aging US military cargo plane carrying nine troops was destroyed in a fiery crash Wednesday as it made its final scheduled flight before being mothballed, officials said.
The C-130 “Hercules” cargo plane from the Puerto Rico Air National Guard crashed around 11:30 am (1530 GMT) near the Savannah airport.
Officials at first said five crew members were killed, but it later emerged that other people were also on board.
“We´ve confirmed nine people, consisting of five crewmembers and four additional passengers” were on board, Puerto Rico National Guard spokesman Major Paul Dahlen said. He said the four others were also members of the military.
Dahlen could not immediately confirm all nine had died, but said images of the crash spoke for themselves. Photographs on Twitter showed the charred wreckage of a plane engulfed in flames and billowing black smoke.
US President Donald Trump tweeted he had been briefed on the incident, and offered his condolences to the families of the victims.
Dahlen said the plane was probably more than 50 years old and was headed to the 309th Aerospace Maintenance Regeneration Group at Davis Monthan Air Force Base — also known as a boneyard for old planes.
The C-130 had been in Georgia for planned maintenance and was thought to have been in good mechanical condition, he added. An investigation into the incident is underway.
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