What: MAFF 7 C-130
When: July 1, 2012 6:30 p.m. Sunday night
Who: Six aboard, including Lt. Col. Paul Mikeal and Master Sergeant Robert Cannon
Why: The tanker made at least two drops of fire retardant on the White Draw fire before it crashed around 6 p.m, the first SUCH crash in the 40-year history of the MAFFS program, a joint Defense Department and U.S. Forest Service program. MAFFS is the Forest Service’s self-contained aerial firefighting system. It can discharge 3,000 gallons covering an area a quarter of a mile long by 100 feet wide in less than five seconds.
Three firefighters were transported by ambulance to a Rapid City hospital. North Carolina state flag have been lowered to half-staff at all state facilities from sunrise to sunset(Tuesday, July 3) to honor the N.C. National Guard members who died.
Charlotte mayor Anthony Foxx said. “On behalf of the City of Charlotte, I would like to extend my deepest condolences to the families and friends of the Airmen who lost their lives Sunday night in South Dakota, and wish the Airmen who were injured a full and speedy recovery,
Delta Airlines flight DL-174 diverted to Boston, Massachusetts, on June 22nd.
Expressjet flight EV-5419 had to return and make an emergency landing in Norfolk, Virginia, on August 11th.