A military cargo plane that plummeted onto a Georgia highway on Wednesday killing all nine people on board was on its final official flight after more than 60 years of service.
The ageing C-130 Hercules, part of Puerto Rico’s National Guard fleet that assisted with relief efforts after Hurricane Irma, was being flown for retirement in Arizona when it nosedived onto the intersection of Highway 21 and Crossgate Road at 11.30am.
The fiery crash took place moments after the plane took off from Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport, where it had received maintenance for ‘a number of days’.
It was flying to the Aerospace Regeneration and Maintenance Group in Arizona, nicknamed ‘the Boneyard’, which holds thousands of old military planes and spacecraft.
The pilot was identified as Major Jose Rafael Roman, who hails from the coastal town of Manati along Puerto Rico’s north coast and about 40 years of age.
The mayor of that town, Jose Sanchez, said Roman had two young boys and his wife is five months pregnant with a girl. ‘The town is in mourning,’ Sanchez said. ‘My condolences to all Puerto Rican families.’
Terrifying surveillance footage from a local business filmed the National Guard C-130 as it nose-dived on Wednesday not long after taking off from Savannah Hilton Head Airport. Video courtesy of WTOC
The ageing C-130 Hercules was on its final flight to a demonissioning centre in Tuscon, Arizona. After it vanished, a plume of fire and smoke wafted up from behind the buildings
This was the aftermath on the highway after the plane went down. It was entirely destroyed and debris was scattered across the four lanes and beyond
A firetruck sprays foam over the remains of an Air National Guard C-130 cargo plane from Puerto Rico on Wednesday morning
All nine crew members were Puerto Ricans who had helped with hurricane recovery efforts as part of the 198th Fighter Squadron, nicknamed the Bucaneros, which flies out of Base Muniz in the northern coastal city of Carolina.
The squadron used the plane to rescue Americans from the British Virgin Islands after Hurricane Irma, and later supplied food and water to Puerto Ricans desperate for help after Hurricane Maria.
‘Nine crew members died in the accident, but until their families and relatives are notified, we cannot give their names,’ said Brigadier General Isabelo Rivera, the assistant general of Puerto Rico.
Rivera said it was ‘not news’ Puerto Rico had the oldest planes on inventory nationwide and said his force often faced delays receiving deliveries of spare parts from the mainland.
President Donald Trump tweeted that he had been briefed on the crash, and sent ‘thoughts and prayers for the victims, their families and the great men and women of the National Guard.’
‘The explosion, it was indescribable. It covered all 4 lanes and more. There was just a huge fireball of God knows what
An investigation into the crash is being carried out by the National Guard Bureau and the Air Force. The National Transportation Safety Board will not take part.
Surveillance footage filmed from a business near the site shows the aircraft nose-diving and disappearing from view behind some buildings before a huge cloud of fire and smoke erupts.
The huge plane came down so hard that the only part still intact was its tail section, with debris scattered around a 600 feet area. Officials called it ‘miraculous’ that the plane did not hit any cars.
The fuselage appeared to have struck the median, and pieces of its wings, which spanned 132 feet, were littered across lanes in both directions.
Drivers who were heading southbound on the highway watched as the plane crashed in their path then, once it had hit the ground, abandoned their vehicles to look for survivors
The plane (pictured on Wednesday) was flying to the Aerospace Regeneration and Maintenance Group in Arizona, nicknamed ‘the Boneyard’, which holds thousands of old military planes and spacecraft
Emergency services are pictured working at Highway 21 in Savannah after the crash on Wednesday. There are not thought to have been any survivors
The tail of the C-130 was the only visible part of the plane that was intact following the collision on the busy highway, which amazingly did not harm any motorists
Motorists who were driving at the time got out of their vehicles to frantically look for survivors afterwards and filmed themselves going through the woods to try to find anyone who had made it out alive.
One witness described the ‘fireball’ explosion which occurred seconds after the plane hit the ground.
‘The explosion, it was indescribable. It covered all 4 lanes and more. There was just a huge fireball of God knows what,’ the man, who was not named, told Fox 5.
No cars were hit which is is an absolute miracle
Gena Bilbo, Effingham County Sheriff’s Office
Chelsea Sinclair, who works at a nearby Parker’s, told local newspaper The News Observer: ‘It went nose-first down. We were seeing a bunch of black smoke.’
Motorist Mark Jones told the Savannah Morning News that he saw the plane hit the road right in front of him, and explode in a huge fireball.
‘It didn’t look like it nosedived, but it almost looked like it stalled and just went almost flat right there in the middle of the highway,’ Jones said.
‘I’m still shook up and shaking. My stomach is in knots because I know they’re people just like me. I wasn’t that far from it and I could have just kept going and it would have been me and we wouldn’t be talking right now,’ Jones said.
‘The explosion, it was indescribable. It covered all 4 lanes and more. There was just a huge fireball of God knows what
Huge plumes of black smoke billowed from the crash site on Wednesday morning. The incident happened around 15 miles from Savannah’s airport
This was the view of the road for motorists as they drove towards the crash. One, whose pictures are shown above, started filming after it had hit the ground
Drivers who got out of their cars after watching in horror as the plane crash searched for survivors on the train tracks next to the road. One bystander filmed her partner (right) as the group yelled: ‘Is there anybody out there’ towards the bushes and woodland
The crash happened next to a train track and over a wooded area which caught fire as a result of the burning debris
The C-130 is a four engine turboprop military transport plane with a payload of 45,000lbs. It is considerable in size at 92ft long and with a wingspan of 132ft.
Discussing the crash at a press conference on Wednesday, National Guard Master Sgt. Roger Parsons said: ‘Anytime we lose any of our brother and sisters in arms it’s devastating.
‘It’s something we never like to have happen, but were still here to do a job and to continue on with the missions we have to do.’
The plane was a Lockheed C-130 Hercules which is a four-engine turboprop military plane with a wingspan of 132ft. It is 92ft long and has a payload of 45,000lbs. A file image of a C-130 is shown above
Smoke rises in the distant where an Air National Guard C-130 cargo plane crashed
Emergency services rushed to the scene on Wednesday. It remains unclear how many were injured