Enemy fire not suspected in crash of U.S. plane in Afghanistan, Air Force says

Enemy fire is not suspected as a factor in the crash of a U.S. C-130 cargo plane at the Jalalabad airport in Afghanistan, the Air Force said Friday. All 11 people on board died in the early morning incident.

First-responders were still conducting recovery operations, the Air Force said in a statement. The cause of the accident is under investigation.

Six U.S. service members and five civilian passengers died in the crash, which occurred at 12:19 a.m., officials said.

Four of the service members were deployed from Dyess Air Force Base in Texas and two were deployed from Hanscom Air Force Base in Massachusetts, the Air Force said. Their names will be withheld 24 hours after the families of deceased are notified per Pentagon policy.

The C-130 belonged to the 774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron, which is assigned to the Bagram air base in Afghanistan.

The C-130 Hercules, first built by Lockheed Martin Corp. in 1954, is a stubby four-engine turbo-prop aircraft used to deliver troops, equipment, and supplies to short runways in harsh environments around the world. The plane has been in continuous production longer than any other military aircraft.

There are multiple variations of the plane. The version that the Air Force said crashed Friday, the C-130J Super Hercules, costs about $70 million and is the newest model of the aircraft manufactured at Lockheed’s Marietta, Ga., plant.

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