Aircraft Was On A Training Exercise

A U.S. Army C-17 aircraft dropped a Humvee into a residential neighborhood during a training exercise Wednesday.

Television station WTVD reports that Fort Bragg officials have confirmed the incident. Michael Novogradac, a spokesman for the USArmy's Operational Test Command, said in a statment that "a load of some kind was released early and we're looking into how it happened."

 A special operations team was training for an equipment drop scenario in a war zone. The plane was carrying the Humvee and a heavy load platform and flying at about 1,500 feet AGL. The aircraft was about a mile from the drop zone when the vehicle went out the back of the airplane. "Everything went as planned except for the early release," said Fort Bragg spokesperson Tom McCollum.
 
The Humvee came to the ground under three parachutes as planned. There were no injuries, and no property damage was associated with the accident.

The aircraft, a C-17 Globemaster III, belongs to the 437th airlift wing at Joint Base Charleston.

FMI: Source report