MILWAUKEE — A military airplane has made a safe emergency landing in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, after what was believed to be a lighting strike interrupted the aircraft’s planned flight.
A spokesman for the Wisconsin Air National Guard’s 128th Air Refueling Wing says the crew landed safely and exited at Mitchell International Airport on Wednesday afternoon.
The aircraft, which was a KC-135 Stratotanker, blew out two of its tires as it landed. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports emergency vehicles surrounded the plane after it came to a stop.
The KC-135 was based out of General Mitchell Air National Guard Base, and was forced to return after experiencing the supposed lightning strike, according to the unit spokesman.
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“The crew safely landed and exited the aircraft that was met by emergency response crews,” Colonel Jim Locke, the 128 Air Refueling Wing Commander, said in a statement provided by the unit spokesman.
“The 128 [Air Refueling Wing] Maintenance Group sent out a tow team to tow the aircraft off the runway so that normal operations at [Mitchell International Airport] could resume,” the statement reads. “The runway was closed so that the Crash Fire Rescue team could perform response tasks. An investigation into the cause of the emergency will be initiated.”
The Air Guard spokesman says the cause of the emergency will be investigated.
Kyle Rempfer was an editor and reporter who has covered combat operations, criminal cases, foreign military assistance and training accidents. Before entering journalism, Kyle served in U.S. Air Force Special Tactics and deployed in 2014 to Paktika Province, Afghanistan, and Baghdad, Iraq.
