Early this morning CNN reported that a US Air Force C-17 crashed in southern Archer County, Texas – just north of Olney. The story, since redacted, has turned out to be false. What caused all this confusion? From what can be gathered, locals in the area reported to have seen a low flying aircraft, which was thought at the time to have been a commercial aircraft. The assumption then being that it was about to crash. This assumption was then called in from a few separate sources, which then sent the town’s police and fire departments out on a wild goose hunt for the location of the crash site. The story then got picked up by CNN, and the rest, of course, is history.
But that still leaves a few unanswered questions, like – Why was the C-17 flying so low in the first place? The answer to this, taken from the Air Force Times, is that the C-17 crew was performing a “map-of-the-earth exercise where the pilots fly at an extremely low altitude…which could be perceived as a near crash.” This exercise as it turns out is a regular Air Force tactic used to evade enemy radar identification. Makes sense.
Comments
Mark
March 23rd, 2009 - 1:22:35 PM
Should always find a reliable source before you print a story, eh, CNN? Maybe next time avoid the 'local' Texans.