GA - RAFB plane makes emergency landing

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RAFB plane makes emergency landing

By Drew Brown The Macon Telegraph

ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE - A Joint STARS battlefield surveillance plane had to make an emergency landing Tuesday morning after a sensor indicated a possible fire in one of its engines.

The flight crew of the $292 million jet declared an "in-flight emergency" around 10:25 a.m. after an indicator light signaled a problem with one of the converted jetliner's four engines, according to Robins spokesman Tim Kurtz.

The emergency was declared over approximately 16 minutes later, and the plane landed, Kurtz said. Fire and emergency crews met the jet on the ground.

Onlookers reported smoke spewing from the engine as the plane approached the runway, but Kurtz said an inspection afterward found the indicator was faulty and that no fire had occurred.

The smoke resulted as the other three engines powered up to compensate for the shutdown, Kurtz said.

The E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System employs a Boeing 707 airframe that has been converted to carry a wide array of radar and other sensor equipment. The aircraft can track enemy ground vehicles from more than 150 miles away, relaying the information almost instantaneously to air and ground battle commanders. The plane carries a crew of 19.

The 93rd Air Control Wing at Robins is home to the Air Force's current fleet of eight Joint STARS aircraft.

93rd spokesman Capt. Michel Escudie said the jet on which the incident occurred Tuesday was a separate model used to train flight crews and stripped of the sophisticated Joint STARS radar and other tracking equipment.

The crew of five was on a routine training mission when the incident occurred. No one was injured, Escudie said.

http://www.macontelegraph.com/content/macon/2000/10/11/local/1011JET.htm

-- Doris (reaper@pacifier.com), October 11, 2000


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