U.S. Plane Overshoots Runway In Afghanistan

Team Infidel

Forum Spin Doctor
Mideast Stars and Stripes
October 22, 2008
Pg. 6

By Joseph Giordono, Stars and Stripes
A U.S. Navy reconnaissance plane was destroyed when it overshot the runway at the large U.S. air base north of the Afghan capital early Tuesday, officials said.
All of the crewmembers survived the crash, though one suffered a broken ankle.
"A Navy P-3 Orion airplane overshot the runway surface while landing at Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan, early [Tuesday]," a United States Forces — Afghanistan release read.
"The airplane sustained serious structural and fire damage. Bagram-based emergency-response units took action on scene to extinguish the fires."
The injured crewmember was treated at the Craig Joint Theater Hospital on Bagram, officials said.
The P-3 is a four-prop plane that was originally developed during the Cold War, when its primary mission was tracking missiles and attack submarines.
Since early in the Afghan war, Navy P-3s have been used in landlocked Afghanistan to support coalition ground forces.
Officials have said the aircraft are used to gather intelligence and provide surveillance and reconnaissance for commanders in the Arabian Sea and on the ground in Afghanistan.
The plane that crashed Tuesday is deployed from PATWING FIVE out of Norfolk, Va., said Cmdr. Jane Campbell of the Navy. While deployed, the aircraft falls under CTF-57, she said.
Bagram is the largest U.S. military base in Afghanistan and a main flying hub.
The crash is under investigation, officials said.
 
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