The FBI reportedly has joined local and state agencies to investigate what caused a U.S. military plane to corkscrew out of the sky and into a Mississippi field on Monday, killing at least 16.
A KC-130, used as a refueling tanker, "experienced a mishap" when it spiraled down about 4 p.m. into a soybean field, about 85 miles north of Jackson, the Marine Corps said. The aircraft's debris scattered in a radius of about 5 miles.
Leflore County Sheriff Ricky Banks told The Associated Press that officials were continuing to look for possible survivors. Banks earlier told the Greenwood Commonwealth 16 people were believed to be on board, but would not confirm that information to The Associated Press.
"We're still searching the area," Banks said. "It's hard to find bodies in the dark."
The Marine Corps said it operated the plane but has provided no information on where the flight originated or where it was going.
Alan Hammons, an official at Greenwood Airport, told WNCN that the aircraft suffered a "structural failure" at 20,000 feet. The Clarion Ledger reported that the plane departed from Naval Support Activity Mid-South Base in Millington, Tenn.
An intense fire, fed by jet fuel, hampered firefighters, causing them to turn to unmanned devices in an attempt to control the flames, authorities said. There were several high-intensity explosions.
Aerial pictures taken by WLBT-TV showed the skeleton of the plane burning, producing plumes of black smoke visible for miles across the flat landscape of the delta.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/07/11/marine-aircraft-disaster-fbi-seeks-answers-in-mississippi-crash-that-killed-at-least-16.html
