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More than 15 percent of the approximately 2,350 Lockheed C-130 Hercules production hulls have been lost, including 70 by the US Air Force and the United States Marine Corps during the Vietnam War. Not all US C-130 losses have been crashes, 29 of those listed below were destroyed on the ground by enemy action or other non-flying accidents. [1] [2]
From 1967 to 2005, the Royal Air Force (RAF) recorded an accident rate of about one Hercules loss per 250,000 flying hours. [3] United States Air Force Hercules (A/B/E-models), as of 1989, had an overall attrition rate of 5 percent as compared to 1 to 2 percent for commercial airliners in the U.S., according to the NTSB, 10 percent for B-52 bombers, and 20 percent for fighters (F-4, F-111), trainers (T-37, T-38), and helicopters (H-3). [4]
This is thought to be a complete listing through July 1, 2012, but omits the JC-130A (53-3130, c/n 3002) test airframe that was tested to destruction and airframes retired or withdrawn from service. By the nature of the Hercules' worldwide service, the pattern of losses provides a barometer of global hotspots over the past fifty years. [1]
The two prototype YC-130s, AF Serial Numbers 53-3396 and 53-3397, were built at the Burbank, California plant, and were given c/ns 1001 and 1002. Production Hercules have all been built at the Lockheed-Marietta, Georgia plant, and began their c/ns at 3001 (USAF 53-3129 , still extant at the Air Force Armament Museum). The first prototype, c/n 1001, was disassembled at Warner Robins AFB in October 1960. The second prototype, c/n 1002, was salvaged at Indianapolis, Indiana in April 1962. (Lars Olausson, Lockheed Hercules Production List, 1954–2008, April 2007, page 2.) There have been a small number of c/ns assigned to airframes on order that were not built for various reasons. Also, C-130A model production ended at c/n 3231, and a new series for the B-model began at c/n 3501, the only time a large block was skipped for an upgraded airframe.
Some 2,500 hulls have been built or are on order. USMC KC-130J BuNo 167111, c/n 5580, delivered December 2006 to VMGR-352, is the 2,300th Hercules. As of 2011, constructor numbers have been projected for anticipated orders through c/n 5800, with projected delivery in 2015 (Olausson, Production List, March 2011).
If the Vietnam War is proscribed by Hercules losses, it lasted 10 years and four days. The 817th Troop Carrier Squadron/6315th Operations Group crew of C-130A 57-0475, c/n 3182, a Blind Bat flareship, crashed into high ground at Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand, April 24, 1965 during a go-around in bad weather with a heavy load, combined with two lost engines, low fuel, making the unfortunate crew the first Hercules loss in Southeast Asia. The last U.S. military C-130 loss was the 314th Tactical Airlift Wing C-130E 72-1297, c/n 4519, hit by advancing NVA rocket fire on April 28, 1975, forcing Tan Son Nhut Air Base to be closed to fixed wing evacuation of the collapsing South Vietnamese capital of Saigon. Although three U.S. Navy Hercules were attrited during the period of the conflict in Southeast Asia, none were in theater, nor had anything to do with combat operations or support, therefore, they do not appear in Vietnam loss tables. One Navy-operated C-130 was lost in SEA but it was on loan from a USAF unit.
Since Hercules attrition began in 1958, there have been three years in which only one hull was lost: 1959, 1963 and 1995.
There have been several mid-air collisions involving Hercules, but all involved other military aircraft – there has never been a Hercules-civilian mid-air. There have been five cases of Hercules fratricide, four on the ground, July 1, 1965, April 11, 1968, February 1, 1979, and September 10, 1998, and one mid-air on March 29, 1985.
Information about Hercules crash circumstances are most vague for the Sudan – four unidentified accidents, and Iran – three unidentified crashes, and one conjectural.
In addition to Air America operations, Southern Air Transport was also a CIA proprietary company.
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: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is an American four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed. Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 was originally designed as a troop, medevac, and cargo transport aircraft. The versatile airframe has found uses in other roles, including as a gunship (AC-130), for airborne assault, search and rescue, scientific research support, weather reconnaissance, aerial refueling, maritime patrol, and aerial firefighting. It is now the main tactical airlifter for many military forces worldwide. More than 40 variants of the Hercules, including civilian versions marketed as the Lockheed L-100, operate in more than 60 nations.
The Lockheed HC-130 is an extended-range, search and rescue (SAR)/combat search and rescue (CSAR) version of the C-130 Hercules military transport aircraft, with two different versions operated by two separate services in the U.S. armed forces.
The Lockheed LC-130 is a ski-equipped United States Air Force variant of the C-130 Hercules used in the Arctic and Antarctic. Ten are currently in service with the 109th Airlift Wing of the New York Air National Guard.
Pope Field is a U.S. military facility located 12 miles (19 km) northwest of the central business district of Fayetteville, in Cumberland County, North Carolina, United States. Formerly known as Pope Air Force Base, the facility is now operated by the U.S. Air Force via a memorandum of agreement (MOA) and an interservices support agreement (ISSA) with the U.S. Army as part of Fort Liberty.
Sewart Air Force Base (1941–1971) is a former United States Air Force base located in Smyrna, about 25 miles southeast of Nashville, Tennessee. During World War II, it was known as Smyrna Army Airfield.
The 139th Airlift Wing is a unit of the Missouri Air National Guard, stationed at Rosecrans Air National Guard Base, St. Joseph, Missouri. If activated to federal service, the Wing is gained by the United States Air Force Air Mobility Command.
The 440th Airlift Wing is an inactive United States Air Force Reserve unit last assigned to Twenty-Second Air Force. It was last stationed at Pope Army Airfield, part of Fort Bragg in North Carolina.
The United States Air Force's 463rd Airlift Group was a theater airlift unit last stationed at Little Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas. It was inactivated on October 1, 2008.
The 919th Special Operations Wing is an Air Reserve Component (ARC) unit of the United States Air Force. The 919 SOW is assigned to the Tenth Air Force of the Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC) and is stationed at Duke Field, Florida.
The 839th Air Division is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Military Airlift Command, assigned to Twenty-First Air Force at Sewart Air Force Base, Tennessee, although except for the last month of its existence it was assigned to Tactical Air Command. It was inactivated on 31 December 1974.
The 840th Air Division is an inactive United States Air Force organization. It was assigned to Ninth Air Force at Lockbourne Air Force Base, Ohio, where it was inactivated on 24 December 1969. The division's components provided tactical airlift support worldwide, and after 1965, trained Lockheed C-130 Hercules crews and maintenance personnel, primarily for deployment to the Pacific and participation in the Vietnam War.
The 133rd Airlift Wing is a unit of the Minnesota Air National Guard, stationed at Minneapolis–Saint Paul Joint Air Reserve Station, Minnesota. If activated to federal service, the Wing is gained by the United States Air Force Air Mobility Command.
The 156th Wing is a unit of the Puerto Rico Air National Guard, stationed at Muñiz Air National Guard Base, in Carolina, Puerto Rico. If activated to federal service with the United States Air Force, the wing is operationally gained by the Air Mobility Command (AMC). It traces its history to the creation of the 156th Tactical Fighter Group in 1962.
The 36th Airlift Squadron is an airlift squadron of the United States Air Force. It is part of the 374th Operations Group at Yokota Air Base, Japan.
The 815th Airlift Squadron is a flying unit of the United States Air Force assigned to the Air Force Reserve Command and part of the 403d Wing at Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi. It operates Lockheed C-130J Hercules aircraft providing global airlift.
The 130th Airlift Squadron is a unit of the West Virginia Air National Guard 130th Airlift Wing located at Charleston Air National Guard Base, Charleston, West Virginia. 130th is equipped with the C-130J Super Hercules.
The 774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron is a provisional United States Air Force unit, assigned to the 455th Expeditionary Operations Group at Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan. The squadron provides airlift to forces engaged in the War in Afghanistan.
The Lockheed MartinKC-130 is a family of the extended-range tanker version of the C-130 Hercules transport aircraft. The KC-130J is the latest variant operated by the United States Marine Corps (USMC), with 48 delivered out of 79 ordered. It replaced older KC-130F, KC-130R, and KC-130T variants for aerial refueling. USMC reserve unit, VMGR-452 operated 12 KC-130T aircraft until May 2021; this was the last USMC reserve unit that operated the legacy KC-130s, completing the Corps' transition to the more advanced Super Hercules.
The 933d Tactical Airlift Group is an inactive United States Air Force Reserve unit. It was last active with the 440th Tactical Airlift Wing, based at Billy Mitchell Field, Wisconsin. It was inactivated on 1 September 1975
Katum Camp is a former U.S. Army and Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) base northeast of Tây Ninh in southern Vietnam.