Posted on 05/18/2011 7:21:55 PM PDT by NYFreeper
VENTURA, Calif. -- An airbase spokesman says a Boeing 707 tanker has crashed on takeoff at Point Mugu Naval Air Station in Ventura County.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Article says crew of three escaped with minor injuries.
Must have aborted (tried) the take off, not any that I know of have survived a tanker crash.
The plane “tanked” but I’m glad no one was hurt.
It’s 7:47 and the the flames are still visible from our house on the hill in Ventura.
“It’s 7:47 and the the flames are still visible from our house on the hill in Ventura.”
Wow. Thank God the crew got out.
I wonder if it was a military tanker or a contract Omega tanker. The article said it was a light colored aircraft, when all the KC-135s I’ve used have been dark grey.
Another thread said it was a contract tanker from Omega.
ping
Thank you, Baby Jesus, that everybody got out. Omega fills a need for the Navy that isn’t being met by the Air Force. From my experience they are a good group of folks. I hope the company can survive this loss.
You may disagree but I feel the USN should fill 99% of its direct operational needs with US military (USAF/USN) but not private contractors. The use of private contractors has been around for decades but they were mostly an overflow temp help function until Rumsfeld went wild in Iraq. The use of private contractors creates opportunity for corruption and costly back room deals where a few gain, but taxpayers lose big time.
Up until a recent thread (someone had posted a photo of an Omega 707 tanker calling it a KC135 doing refueling) I didn’t even know we were outsourcing any refueling functions to private contractors. I’m opposed to the concept of a privatized military which IMHO is disruptive, detrimental and destructive to the fabric and morale. It needs minimized not expanded.
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All of my exposure to contractors has been through aviation and most of it has been positive. I was in a unit for a prolonged period of time that had contract maintenance. In essence we were flying a non-deployable, non-fleet aircraft for a training mission. The maintainers were mostly retired military guys that had years of experience not just on that type of aircraft, but on those specific airframes. The bottom line was that the Navy got to maintain those aircraft without the extra incurred costs of benefits and training for sailors that would end up rotating out in 3 years. The operators got a quality product.
The waste in using contractors comes from bad contract writing. If a contract author writes a bad contract with loopholes and poor performance metrics, the contractor will exploit those every time.
I don't know how the Omega contract is written, but there is always the risk at the end of the contract that the contract won't be renewed. There is an inherent risk for these service providers to go out of business over night.
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