I have wanted to write about this particular topic for a while, but I’ve been sick for the last few weeks and hadn’t really felt motivated to put forth the effort to do so. Last Wednesday, 28 Jul 2010, A C-17 Globemaster III, call sign SITKA 43, crashed at Elmendorf AFB outside Anchorage, AK. As feared, there were no survivors. On board were three AK ANG pilots and one active duty AF loadmaster, all three gone. I hoped I didn’t know any of them, as the C-17 aircrew community isn’t ridiculously large, with Charleston being the first base they were assigned to followed by McChord near Seattle a few years later and many more in the years afterward. My hopes were in vain as I found one of the pilots I flew with numerous times in Charleston was on the list. Maj. Mike Freyholtz and I were both assigned to the 15th AS here in Charleston, he was still there when I left in spring 2003. He was a good guy, when I saw his name on the flight orders for a mission I didn’t have to worry about whether the crew would suck or not, as he was a pretty fun guy. I know we did several 21-day missions to Frankfurt (such trips were the bane of my existence back then) and a number of local training missions. According to the bio the USAF released, he left Charleston and was at McChord for a while, and in 2007 then went to Elmendorf and joined the Alaska ANG.
I started to get some of the details about the crash shortly after it happened. The USAF has a very deliberate, structured process that they go through after a mishap and information control (at least initially) is a component. What I did find out was that it was shortly after takeoff, minute or so; low altitude and a steep degree of bank – possibly 60 degrees. An R/C airplane club member near where the crash occurred stated he could tell the jet wasn’t going to make it and it just went in. Most of it matches up – that short after takeoff altitude would have been low and they may have been turning to avoid terrain (AK is pretty mountainous!). That’s the worst time for anything to happen – no altitude or time to recover the aircraft. It put in perspective how many times we did takeoffs and landings and go-arounds safely. It makes you think – every time we as aircrew strapped ourselves into that five-point harness and hurtled the jet down the runway may very well have been our last. You could do everything right – and still not walk away. The C-17 is a remarkable aircraft, very good safety record – in fact this is the first Class A mishap the USAF has experienced with the C-17 that involved a total loss of an airframe. The aircraft in question was tail number 00-0173 “Spirit of the Aleutians” and was only probably ten years old or so (00 is the year, generally).
I spent a bit of time reflecting on how fragile life is, and how one moment cannot be expected. I thought about how lucky so many of us were and are, for having made it through many sorties without incident. I also thought about the crew of SITKA 43 who stepped to the jet on a training line like so many of my fellow crewmembers have done and will continue to do so many times, only to never return. My thoughts and prayers are with the friends and families of the crew members of SITKA 43. Rest in peace, brothers.
