Air Force disciplines C-130 crew for ‘unplanned’ landing to pick up motorcycle in Martha’s Vineyard
David Roza - Yesterday 3:34 PM
Five Air Force reservists have been disciplined after using a military aircraft to make an unauthorized landing at Martha’s Vineyard in March to pick up a crew member’s vintage motorcycle, the Air Force’s 403rd Wing announced on Wednesday.
The crew members are part of the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron based at Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi. Also known as the ‘Hurricane Hunters,’ the 53rd flies modified transport planes called WC-130Js into tropical storms to gather essential weather data for planners across the East Coast. This particular crew was flying in the New England area on March 25 when they made a stop at Martha’s Vineyard, unbeknownst to their leadership at the 403rd Wing at Keesler, to pick up a crewmember’s 1970 BMW R75/5 motorcycle. The aircraft was spotted by local residents eating lunch at a restaurant near the airport, and the story soon went national after being reported first by the Martha’s Vineyard Times.
“Don’t see that every day,” local resident Doug Ulwick told the Martha’s Vineyard Times. Witnesses said the loud turboprop plane was on the ground less than 20 minutes before taking off again and continuing their official mission to Mather, California, according to the 403rd Wing. Located outside Sacramento in northern California. Mather had some equipment that the 403rd Wing needed for its atmospheric river mission, where the Hurricane Hunters track massive bands of moisture over the Pacific that cause large amounts of rainfall and flooding on the West Coast. That tracking enables better forecasts, the 403rd Wing explained in its statement.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/air-force-disciplines-c-130-crew-for-unplanned-landing-to-pick-up-motorcycle-in-martha-s-vineyard/ar-AAXars3?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=dceac8c244ae4d69b36d1e19cf1b9150
