A Marine Corps transport aircraft apparently sustained damage in a mishap in Arizona in November 2023.
A KC-130J Super Hercules with Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron 352 “departed” the runway upon landing during routine training at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Arizona, at approximately 2 p.m. on Nov. 7, according to Marine spokeswoman Capt. Stephanie Leguizamon and the Naval Safety Command.
The five crew on board weren’t injured, Leguizamon said in a statement Thursday to Marine Corps Times. The Marine Corps was still investigating the mishap.
The Naval Safety Command listed the mishap as Class A, meaning either that someone was killed or permanently disabled — which no one was — or that the aircraft sustained at least $2.5 million in damage, according to the Navy’s definition.
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The aircraft was still at the Arizona base, Leguizamon said Monday, more than two months after the mishap.
The KC-130J is a long-range plane powered by turboprop engines, according to the Pentagon’s acquisition report for the aircraft. It can refuel other aircraft midair, carry cargo or up to 92 troops, and conduct reconnaissance, among other missions.
Going into 2023, the Marine Corps had 65 KC-130J aircraft, and it received five more that year, according to Pentagon reports. It received those five aircraft for approximately $94 million each.
While the November 2023 incident occurred on land, the KC-130J has been involved in a few mishaps in the sky.
In September 2020, an F-35B fighter jet collided with a KC-130J midair, but the F-35B pilot ejected to safety and the KC-130J pilot managed to crash-land the plane in a California field.
In December 2018, a Marine Corps F/A-18 crashed into a KC-130J during a nighttime refueling mission off the coast of Japan, killing six Marines.
An older model of the KC-130, the KC-130T, crashed in 2017 in Mississippi, killing 15 Marines and one sailor. The Marine Corps attributed the tragedy to an Air Force maintenance depot’s failure to fix a corroded propeller blade, and it has since phased out the T model.
Irene Loewenson is a staff reporter for Marine Corps Times. She joined Military Times as an editorial fellow in August 2022. She is a graduate of Williams College, where she was the editor-in-chief of the student newspaper.
