DoD Releases Cause Of July 2017 KC-130T Crash

Washington Post

At 4 p.m. on Monday, July 10th, 2017, a KC-130 operated by the Marine Corp crashed in a soybean field in Mississippi killing 16 servicemembers onboard. The Marine Corps stated that the plane took off from Cherry Point, North Carolina. The U.S. Marine Corps Tweeted the following message the day after the accident:

A USMC KC-130 crashed in Mississippi on July 10, killing 16 service members.

More: https://t.co/ByvyT4CJgS Follow @MarForRes for updates. pic.twitter.com/ju9ym4plAv

— U.S. Marines (@USMC) July 11, 2017

Local farmers reported hearing a loud “boom” first and then saw a plane falling out of the sky. Some said that they saw the engine on fire before the crash as well.

“You looked up and you saw the plane twirling around. It was spinning down,” said Mississippi resident Andy Jones. Others saw the same behavior of the plane before the crash.

Locals reported that there was not much of the plane left. A farmer said that his crops are not that tall, yet, there was not much wreckage sticking above them.

After almost a year and a half of investigating, the Marine Forces Reserve command released the video below breaking down what happened that day. The root of the crash was traced back to 2011 when improper repairs were done to a corroded propeller blade. It separated during flight and sheared off the cockpit from the rest of the fuselage, explaining witnesses’ descriptions of the aircraft “spiraling down into the ground.”