A part from a military aircraft landed in a South Carolina school parking lot after the vehicle suffered a “malfunction.”
The tail cone of a Boeing C-17 Globemaster III fell out of the sky and into the parking lot of Divine Redeemer School in Hanahan at 4 p.m. on Thursday.
A Joint Base Charleston spokesperson told WCSC News that the C-17 Globemaster III landed safely after it experienced a malfunction in flight. An investigation is now underway.
Newsweek has emailed Joint Base Charleston for comment and will update the story when more details are received.
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Joint Base Charleston confirmed to WCIV News that the crew of the C-17 notified the air base when the tail cone fell off during the flight, before returning to base.
A team then went out to the Divine Redeemer School to recover the piece. No injuries or property damage has been reported.
“Trooper Bob” Beres, a Navy veteran and traffic anchor for WCIV-TV,first reported the incident in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Posting images of the tail cone lying in the school parking lot, the traffic anchor wrote:
“WOW! A viewer tells me her dad took these pictures. This fell out of the sky and onto the parking lot of Divine Redeemer School in Hanahan around 4pm today.”
He later updated the post with confirmation of the aircraft type and that the base was aware what happened.
Hanahan, South Carolina-
WOW! A viewer tells me her dad took these pictures. This fell out of the sky and onto the parking lot of Divine Redeemer School in Hanahan around 4pm today.
📸: H. Nguyen @ABCNews4
Update: A military pilot tells me that’s a rear tail cone off a C-17.… pic.twitter.com/o2J8eewbRp— Trooper Bob (@TrooperBob_SC) September 12, 2024
Newsweek has emailed the Divine Redeemer School for clarification as to whether any students were in the parking lot when the tail cone fell.
It is possible this latest malfunction could be another headache for Boeing, who are currently facing multiple lawsuits after a faulty door panel blew off an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX plane mid-flight.
Several passengers were injured in the incident and all 737 MAX 9s were grounded as a result. It was later found that the door lacked the bolts to secure the door plugs.
In the wake of this, some whistleblowers raised safety concerns about Boeing.
Newsweek has emailed Boeing for comment.
What is a C-17 Globemaster III?
Contracted by Boeing, the C-17 Globemaster III is a large aircraft that can be used to transport cargo or troops and perform aeromedical evacuations. According to the U.S. Air Force, it is the most flexible aircraft in the cargo airlift force—able to take off and land on runways as short as 3,500 feet and perform three-point turns on narrow runways.
The aircraft is 53 meters long and has a wingspan of 51.75 meters. It is operated by a three-man crew—pilot, co-pilot and loadmaster—and can take on a load of 102 paratroopers and their equipment or 170,900 pounds of cargo.
The first C-17s were declared operational in January 1995. Due to the success of the aircraft, multiple additional C-17s have been acquired since then—resulting in a fleet of 223 aircraft that are operated by the Air Military Command from various locations including Joint Base Charleston and McGuire AFB in New Jersey.
A C-17 Globemaster III was used in the U.S. evacuation of Afghanistan in 2021.