Class 11 Mishaps

The board also reviewed the use of C-130s by the U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard. The Navy had been flying the C-130 since 1961. In that time, their class A mishap rate from 1961 to 1998 was 0.87 mishaps per 100,000 flying hours. It was also found that they had zero class A mishaps since 1977. The available flying hours for the Coast Guard only dated back to 1983 but from 1983 to 1997, their class A mishap rate was 0.30, experiencing only one mishap. Between the years of 1961 to 1982, the Coast Guard had experienced three class A mishaps (C-130 Broad Area Review, 1998). With the C-130 flying almost 25 million hours worldwide, there had been a total of 284 aircraft lost to mishaps. These broke down to 194 Class A mishaps, 14 ground mishaps, four other mishaps, and 72 lost in combat. Approximately 2,100 C-130s were built between 1955 and 1998. Of those, approximately 1,800 were still in service in 1998 (C-130 Broad Area Review, 1998). Previous C-130 models were proven to be reliable and had a safe track record. However, the aircraft were worn and expensive to maintain. The time had come to replace the older 130s with a more up-to-date and
modern 130. In 1999, the state-of-the-art C-130 entered the inventory. Designated as the C-130J Super Hercules, it contained extensive performance developments above all the other models. The most evident of the C-130J is its six-bladed composite propeller. Furnished with four Rolls-Royce AE2100D3 turboprop engines generating 4,700 horsepower each, the C-130J can achieve speeds of 410 mph at 22,000 feet and is able to carry 34,000lbs of cargo for a range of 2,071 miles (C-130 Hercules, 2003). This newer Hercules uses advanced technology which includes; an innovative two-pilot flight station complete with fully integrated digital avionics, color multifunctional liquid crystal and head-up displays (HUD) and high-tech navigation that consist of a dual inertial navigation system and a global positioning satellite system (GPS).
The aircraft also contains a completely integrated defensive system, low-power color radar, digital moving map display, and digital auto pilot. More upgrades include; improved fuel, environmental and ice-protection and an enhanced cargo-handling system. This cutting-edge technology helps to cut cost by reducing the manpower required and by lessening operating and support costs. This in-turn provides overall life-cycle cost savings over the previous C-130 models (C-130 Hercules,
2003).