Feds Say Air Force Employee Skipped Key Maintenance Ahead of 2017 Plane Crash that Killed 16 Troops
Military.com | By Thomas Novelly and Konstantin Toropin
Published July 10, 2024 at 3:08pm ET
A former Air Force civilian engineer who led maintenance at Robins Air Force Base removed a crucial inspection procedure that could have identified a worn propeller blade before it caused a KC-130 Hercules crash in 2017 that killed 16 troops, federal prosecutors allege in newly released court documents.
James Michael Fisher, 67, the former lead engineer responsible for C-130 propeller maintenance at the Georgia base, was arrested July 2 by federal authorities as part of the investigation into the crash in Mississippi. He faces two charges relating to false statements and two charges relating to obstruction of justice.
Federal prosecutors alleged in an indictment that Fisher allowed technicians to stop conducting a key inspection procedure on propeller bores, causing a defective propeller blade to be placed back into service even though "intergranular cracking was not detected and remediated at Robins."
https://www.military.com/daily-news/2024/07/10/feds-say-air-force-employee-skipped-key-maintenance-ahead-of-2017-plane-crash-killed-16-troops.html
