Twenty-one killed in US military plane crash

Twenty-one killed in US military plane crash
AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE

MAR 4: A military aircraft belonging to the US National Guard has crashed in the state of Georgia, killing all 21 people on board, Air Force officials said.

The C-23 Sherpa twin-engine propeller plane, which carried 18 passengers and three crew, went down near the town of Unadilla, about 70 kms South of Robins Air Force Base, yesterday at 2030 IST (1500 GMT), base spokesman Major Jerry Herbel told AFP.

"There were no survivors," he added. "The cause of the accident is unknown."

The plane, assigned to the 171st National Guard Aviation Battalion based in Lakeland, Florida, was enroute from Hurlburt Field in Florida to the Oceana Naval Air Station in Virginia, according to the spokesman.

The passengers on the plane belonged to a unit of the Virginia National Guard from Virginia Beach.

A response team from Robins Air Force Base was on the scene shortly after the accident and had begun investigation. Civilian authorities will also be involved, Herbel said.

The C-23 is designed to carry 25-30 people but can also be reconfigured to ferry cargo, military officials said.

They are routinely used by National Guard but not Air Force, said Herbel.

The spokesman said the Air Force did not have information about the age of the plane that went down and had not yet examined its maintenance records.

But Florida National Guard Commander Major General Ronald Harrison said the plane had been with his troops since 1997 and had an "excellent" safety record.