Lockheed LC-130 - Accidents and Incidents

Accidents and Incidents

Over time, a number of LC-130s have been lost due to accidents. Three LC-130 aircraft crashed in the early 1970s. An LC-130F taxied over a snow berm during a storm while maneuvering for take-off and was lost to fire in early 1971. Another LC-130F crashed in Victoria Land in late 1971 when the nose landing gear collapsed following a JATO malfunction during an open field takeoff. This aircraft was recovered in 1987. However, during the recovery effort an LC-130R crashed, killing two crewmen. In addition to the loss of the crewmen, an airborne scientific capability was lost as this LC-130R had been modified to do scientific work. The original LC-130R crashed while landing at Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station in 1973.

In the 1974/75 season during an open field takeoff on Dome C a JATO bottle on an LC-130F came loose and damaged the wing and one propeller thus causing an aborted takeoff. A fire in the wing caused further damage to the wing. A LC-130R was used to rescue the scientists and aircrew. Reluctant to use JATO, the nose gear of the LC-130R collapsed in the rough ice/snow during the takeoff, aborting the rescue attempt. A third LC-130 finally rescued all the scientists and aircrew. After evaluating the situation the Foundation and Navy made plans to recover the two downed aircraft during the next season. This involved replacement of the wing on the first aircraft and of the nose landing gear on the second aircraft. Preparations were made during the off-season to accomplish the repairs. After temperatures had risen sufficiently the recovery operations began the next November. A large number of flights was needed to transport all the material to the Dome C site. As an LC-130F took off for return to McMurdo a JATO bottle came loose, again damaging a propeller. Thus, Dome C became the home of three damaged LC-130s. As the damage to the last LC-130 was relatively minor compared to the others it was repaired first. Through extraordinary effort the repair team and supporting maintenance and aircrews all three aircraft were repaired and recovered from Dome C.

In 1993, an LC-130 crashed on the Lucy Glacier, Antarctica while retrieving a geology field party. The crash occurred in soft snow during an open-field takeoff when a propeller struck the snow sending the propeller into the fuselage. Fuel from the damaged engine ignited, and the plane spun sideways sliding for approximately 200 m down the glacier before coming to a stop. The plane was overhauled on site and flown back to McMurdo 21 days later.