All 17 aboard survive cargo plane crash

DOVER, Del. – A huge military cargo plane faltered after takeoff and belly-landed short of the Dover Air Force Base runway Monday, breaking apart and drenching some of the 17 people aboard with fuel but causing no fire or life-threatening injuries.

“It is a miracle. Absolutely a miracle,” said Lt. Col. Mark Ruse, commander of the base’s 436th Air Wing Civil Engineering squadron. “If you look at the condition of that plane and 17 people are still alive right now – it is absolutely amazing.”

A problem occurred aboard the C-5B Galaxy, the military’s largest plane, about 10 minutes after it took off for Spain. The crew turned the plane around for the crash landing, which occurred at 6:42 a.m., said Col. Chad T. Manske, 436th Airlift Wing vice commander.

Manske did not provide specifics on what went wrong, but Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., who was briefed by military officials, said he was told the crew reported a malfunction in one of the plane’s four engines.

The plane crashed in an open, grassy area about a half-mile short of the runway. The tail and nose were torn from the fuselage, along with one of the engines. Some of the 250,000 pounds of fuel spilled on the ground but did not ignite.

“It looks like it kind of slid along the ground almost like a water landing of sorts,” Ruse said.

Pilots familiar with the plane say its sheer size – roughly that of a football field – likely contributed to the fact that there were no deaths.

Military officials said everyone was in “fair, or better” condition.