C-130 Hercules
The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is an American four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed Corporation, Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin). Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 w ...
military transport aircraft operated by the
Royal Moroccan Air Force
The Royal Moroccan Air Force (; ; ) is the air force of the Moroccan Armed Forces.
History
The Moroccan air force was formed on 14 May 1956 as the Sherifian Royal Aviation ().
Its modern installations and bases were inherited from France (Bass ...
crashed near
Guelmim
Guelmim is a city in southern Morocco, often called ''Gateway to the Desert''. It is the capital of the Guelmim-Oued Noun region which includes southern Morocco (south of the Souss-Massa region) and the northeastern corner of Western Sahara. The p ...
, Morocco, killing all 80 people on board. The plane was carrying 71 passengers (initially reported as 72), mostly members of the Moroccan Armed Forces, and nine crew. Three occupants were pulled alive from the wreckage but later died of their injuries.
Accident
The aircraft involved, a four-engined
Lockheed C-130H Hercules
The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is an American four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin). Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 was originally designe ...
with registration CNA-OQ, was travelling from
Dakhla Airport
Dakhla Airport is an airport serving Dakhla (also known as Dajla or ad-Dakhla, formerly Villa Cisneros), a city in Western Sahara, a disputed territory. (See ''Political status of Western Sahara'')
The airport is operated by the Moroccan stat ...
in
Morocco
Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...
to
Kenitra Air Base
Kenitra Air Base (Arabic: قاعدة القنيطرة الجوية) is a military airport in Kenitra, a city in the Rabat-Salé-Kénitra region in Morocco. It is also known as the Third Royal Air Force Base, operated by the Royal Moroccan Air For ...
, with a scheduled stopover at Guelmim.
While approaching
Guelmim Airport
Guelmim Airport is an airport serving Guelmim, a city in the central Guelmim-Oued Noun region in Morocco. The airport served over 10,700 passengers in the year 2013.
It was the deadliest aviation accident of 2011, and Morocco's deadliest military aviation disaster."Morocco Military Plane Crash Kills 80, No Survivors" by Omar Brouksy
Jakarta Globe
The ''Jakarta Globe'' is a daily online English-language newspaper in Indonesia, launched in November 2008.
The paper initially came out as a print newspaper with an average of 48 pages a day, and published Monday to Saturday. It had three sect ...
. 27 July 2011
King Mohammed VI
Mohammed VI (; born 21 August 1963) is King of Morocco. A member of the Alawi dynasty, he acceded to the throne on 23 July 1999, upon the death of his father, King Hassan II.
Upon ascending to the throne, Mohammed initially introduced several ...
announced three days of national mourning following the crash.
See also
*
List of accidents and incidents involving the Lockheed C-130 Hercules
More than 15 percent of the approximately 2,350 Lockheed C-130 Hercules production hulls have been lost, including 70 by the US Air Force and the United States Marine Corps during the Vietnam War. Not all US C-130 losses have been crashes, 29 of ...