AFB Engineer Arrested for Involvement in Deadly US Aircraft Crash

An ex-United States Air Force engineer at Robins Air Force Base in Georgia has been charged with obstructing justice and creating false statements during a criminal probe in 2017. This happened during the 2017 incident where 15 Marine personnel and one Sailor lost their lives during the US aircraft crash. The federal government issued an arrest on July 2 on James Michael Fisher, 67, a former propulsion engineer at the base. His job was to do maintenance work and repairs for propellers used in the Marine Corps KC-130 carrier aircraft that had crashed.

A Look Back in the US Aircraft Crash in 2017

Flying should be one of the safest modes of transportation, as a person has a higher chance of being struck by lightning than being in an aircraft accident. Plus, it is also much safer to fly than to drive. However, there are still select cases wherein flying became dangerous, just like in the 2017 US aircraft crash. Some reasons for such catastrophic events involve pilot error, air traffic control error, weather conditions, and mechanical failure. But the devastating 2017 event was from a continual mistake a few years ago. The KC-130, an American military transport plane, went off the radar after a few minutes during a routine cross-country flight. According to statements, the aircraft was flying at approximately 20,000 feet when suddenly, a blade on the left inboard propeller loosened and sliced through the fuselage, causing severe structural stress that caused the right inboard propeller to fall out. The cockpit was then severed and plunged to the ground, followed by the fuselage, and it became one of the worst US aircraft crashes of that year. When investigators came to the scene, the wreckage was spread across the Mississippi soybean fields, which are five miles away. They also found small pits of corrosion that had become cracks, which caused the first blade to malfunction.

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Improper Maintenance and a Devastating Outcome

In 2011, the same aircraft underwent some overhaul at the Robins Air Force Base in Georgia. However, the maintenance procedures were not done correctly. If the corrosion had been detected, the accident should have been avoided. Determining why it wasn't detected was difficult to investigate since records from that year were destroyed only after two years. Andy Jones, a witness to the US aircraft crash, mentioned that he heard a loud bang while working on his catfish farm. The plane spiraled to the ground, and one of the engines was trailing white smoke. Jones thought it was an acrobatic plane at first, but then saw smoke was coming out of one of its wings. He then had flashbacks of 9/11 after the crash; he was not able to witness the impact since there were trees that blocked his view. But when he was outside, some mini-explosions were coming from the crash.

The Decision on the US Aircraft Crash of 2017

Image source: Marine Corps photos