Washington, May 3: All nine people on board an aging US cargo plane have been killed when the aircraft making its final military flight nose-dived into a highway in the US state of Georgia, an official said.
They were aboard the C-130 plane when it came down Wednesday beside the highway intersection near the airport in the coastal city of Savannah. The plane belonged to Puerto Rico Air National Guard and was on a training flight, the National Guard said. All the airmen were from Puerto Rico, an official said.
Images shared on social media showed wreckage engulfed in flames and black smoke spewing into the sky, the BBC reported. It was flying from Georgia to Tucson in Arizona, where it was to be decommissioned. The plane was at least 50 years old, according to an official familiar with the aircraft. “Nine crew members died in the accident, but until their families and relatives are notified, we cannot give their names,” Brig. Gen. Isabelo Rivera said. “Our prayers, thoughts and condolences to the families and loved ones of our aviators.” Meanwhile, a Russian fighter jet crashed after taking off from an airbase in Syria Thursday, killing both pilots, Moscow’s defence ministry said in a statement carried by news agencies. “As it was climbing after taking off from the Hmeimim airbase, the Russian fighter Su-30SM crashed into the Mediterranean Sea. Two pilots, who fought until the last minute to save the plane, died, according to reports from the scene,” the statement said. The ministry said the plane had not come under fire, adding that “according to preliminary information, the reason for the crash could have been a bird falling into the engine”. The accident brings Russia’s official military losses in Syria to 86.
IANS
