C-130 Military Planes Undergo Special Inspections
ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, GA --
Hundreds of C-130 Hercules transport planes, the cargo workhorse of the U.S. Air Force and other military forces around the world, were being inspected Thursday for potential problems with nuts that attach the wings to the fuselage, officials said.
The planes weren't technically grounded, but the wing joint barrel nuts would be scrutinized on 528 four-engine turboprops, said Roger Drinnon, a spokesman for the Air Mobility Command at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois.
The inspections come after routine depot maintenance Wednesday of a C-130 at Georgia's Robins Air Force Base found cracks on some of the plane's upper right wing barrel nuts.
The inspection involves only the older "legacy" models, and not the newer C-130J, which first came on line in 1999, Drinnon said.
Other branches of the U.S. military and dozens of other countries use the aircraft.
The inspections, which take about four hours per plane, are expected to be completed soon, Drinnon said.
Peter Simmons, a specialist on the C-130 program at manufacturer Lockheed Martin in Marietta, did not immediately return telephone messages Thursday.
According to Air Force data, the C-130 became operational in December 1956. More than 2,000 aircraft in 70 variants and five basic models have been produced.
