So let me get this right…
#1
So let me get this right…
Depending on the perceived threat level, you might have as many as four (4) semiautomatic handguns onboard with maybe sixty (60) rounds of ammunition and since your higher ups have already ordered the evacuation of a military airbase which was under your control, you are now landing at a commercial airport which is SUPPOSED to be under some sort of control.
You are then mobbed by thousands of panicky people trying to get aboard and only manage to get the ramp up after six hundred and forty (640) of the panicky people get aboard most of whom don’t speak English and you make the decision to take off before the thousands of others who are mobbing your aircraft FOD your engines in their attempts to climb into and onto it. As you taxi out you are surrounded by hundreds of others - some climbing up into the gear well while others cling to the exterior fuselage - and wonder of wonders are able to actually take off, losing a few hangers on in the process from maybe 5-6 hundred AGL and crushing one or more when the gear doors close with their feet dangling out.
“Faced with a rapidly deteriorating security situation around the aircraft, the C-17 crew decided to depart the airfield as quickly as possible,” the service said.
Air Mobility Command, which oversees the service’s transport fleet, is assisting in the investigation alongside “international partners since it involves the loss of life on U.S. military aircraft,” officials said.
“OSI’s review will be thorough to ensure we obtain the facts regarding this tragic incident. Our hearts go out to the families of the deceased,” the service said.
The human remains found in the aircraft’s landing gear have made it temporarily inoperable, two sources previously told POLITICO. The Air Force said it needed time to collect the remains and inspect the aircraft before it could resume operations.
Air Mobility Command, which oversees the service’s transport fleet, is assisting in the investigation alongside “international partners since it involves the loss of life on U.S. military aircraft,” officials said.
“OSI’s review will be thorough to ensure we obtain the facts regarding this tragic incident. Our hearts go out to the families of the deceased,” the service said.
The human remains found in the aircraft’s landing gear have made it temporarily inoperable, two sources previously told POLITICO. The Air Force said it needed time to collect the remains and inspect the aircraft before it could resume operations.
How about instead you go after the military and political higher ups whose foul ups caused the crew to be in this situation to begin with?
Last edited by Excargodog; 08-18-2021 at 06:55 AM.
#2
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Joined APC: Jul 2015
Position: MD-88 FO
Posts: 1,572
Or maybe go after the president who failed to verify there was a legitimate plan in place for this pullout and made sure that our assets in Afghanistan were protected and evacuated before abandoning our position in the country?
#3
It's pretty clear that they will be exonerated under the circumstances. They just have to do the process for the optics.
The only time a military-involved fatality doesn't get investigated is when it's the enemy.
The only time a military-involved fatality doesn't get investigated is when it's the enemy.
#4
The OSI review will not only look at the decision to conduct the takeoff, but also at the release of video “and the source of social media posts” from inside the C-17 that showed a body violently flapping in the air at the wheel well.
Last edited by Excargodog; 08-18-2021 at 08:13 AM.
#5
Especially since the crew knew that taxiing the aircraft was going to endanger people on the ground (I do agree that they had a good reason to do that).
#6
I can guarantee you that mishap boards are not the venue which addresses civilian fatalities. OSI is obviously going to be involved.
Especially since the crew knew that taxiing the aircraft was going to endanger people on the ground (I do agree that they had a good reason to do that).
Especially since the crew knew that taxiing the aircraft was going to endanger people on the ground (I do agree that they had a good reason to do that).
nor am I saying lessons can’t be learned by investigating this. But I am concerned about these guys being made scapegoats.
it’s sort of like they were ordered to climb a tree, ordered to go out on a limb, and when the limb subsequently broke off, they are being investigated for not flying safely away.
#7
#8
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Joined APC: Jul 2018
Posts: 1,100
Well, would you rather that nobody investigated when human remains are found in a wheel well? Or when multiple people plummet to their deaths after takeoff?
If civilians are killed, there should always be an investigation, that's part of how we (hopefully) ensure our morality in armed conflict. Whenever CIVCAS occurred from kinetics in Afghanistan, there was always an investigation, of which the casualty-causing aircrew were a part of. However, I never personally heard of anyone (in the USMC, at least) facing UCMJ charges from the unfortunate times that it occurred and the subsequent investigation. It's no different here, but people's hysterics and jumping to conclusions don't help anything.
If and when the aircrew is charged, then we can bring out the pitchforks. Until that point, save the moral outrage
If civilians are killed, there should always be an investigation, that's part of how we (hopefully) ensure our morality in armed conflict. Whenever CIVCAS occurred from kinetics in Afghanistan, there was always an investigation, of which the casualty-causing aircrew were a part of. However, I never personally heard of anyone (in the USMC, at least) facing UCMJ charges from the unfortunate times that it occurred and the subsequent investigation. It's no different here, but people's hysterics and jumping to conclusions don't help anything.
If and when the aircrew is charged, then we can bring out the pitchforks. Until that point, save the moral outrage
#9
Well, would you rather that nobody investigated when human remains are found in a wheel well?
If civilians are killed, there should always be an investigation, that's part of how we (hopefully) ensure our morality in armed conflict. Whenever CIVCAS occurred from kinetics in Afghanistan, there was always an investigation, of which the casualty-causing aircrew were a part of. However, I never personally heard of anyone (in the USMC, at least) facing UCMJ charges from the unfortunate times that it occurred and the subsequent investigation. It's no different here, but people's hysterics and jumping to conclusions don't help anything.
If and when the aircrew is charged, then we can bring out the pitchforks. Until that point, save the moral outrage
If civilians are killed, there should always be an investigation, that's part of how we (hopefully) ensure our morality in armed conflict. Whenever CIVCAS occurred from kinetics in Afghanistan, there was always an investigation, of which the casualty-causing aircrew were a part of. However, I never personally heard of anyone (in the USMC, at least) facing UCMJ charges from the unfortunate times that it occurred and the subsequent investigation. It's no different here, but people's hysterics and jumping to conclusions don't help anything.
If and when the aircrew is charged, then we can bring out the pitchforks. Until that point, save the moral outrage
#10
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Joined APC: Jul 2018
Posts: 1,100
Because, as you point out, there are far better things to get spun up about... like almost every aspect of our military adventure into Afghanistan. None of the politicos or dumb**** generals (or the lifer officers who also enabled it) will likely ever face charges from any of their stupidity/ignorance though.
EDIT: I dunno, maybe I'm just too jaded and cynical about it though.