THE FUERZA AEREA Argentina (FAA, Argentine Air Force) marked 50 years of C-130 operations with a ceremony held at the I Brigada Aérea (1st Air Brigade) at El Palomar, Buenos Aires, on December 14. The event was chaired by the FAA chief of staff, Brigadier General Enrique Amrein. The commemoration also recognised personnel who fought in the Falklands/ Malvinas conflict in 1982 and retired C-130H TC-68 was presented with underwing bombs to reflect its wartime service as a makeshift bomber. In this configuration it attacked the 100,000-ton supertanker Hercules 480 miles (772km) northeast of the Falkland Islands on June 8, 1982. Meanwhile, a dedication was given to the crew of C-130E TC-62 that was destroyed by a terrorist bomb after taking off from San Miguel de Tucumán Benj Matienzo Airport on August 28, 1975, killing four of the 144 on board. C-130H TC-61 - the sole survivor of the first three Hercules acquired by the FAA - received special anniversary markings on its tail. Also attending the event were Luftwaffe A400M 54+21 and a C-130H of the Georgia Air National Guard's 165th Airlift Wing.
展开▼
