Departure delayed
Mechanics plan to work through the night to figure out what's wrong with the jet's steering.Given the delay, the pilot and crew scrubbed the possibility of a Tuesday takeoff, opting instead for a Wednesday afternoon departure.
Gateway To Afghanistan archive for Oct. 12, 2010
TUESDAY, OCT. 12, 2010
Sputter....
During taxiing to the runway at Fairchild Air Force Base, our pilot noticed that he had trouble steering the nose gear of aircraft. We have deplaned and await word whether we can continue on with the trip tonight, or come back tomorrow and try again.
Don't forget your earplugs
The KC-135 is loaded and the deployment briefing is done. In addition to learning how to thwart potential hijackers, earplugs were passed out. Apparently, flying in a refueling tanker is quite a bit noisier than commercial jets. It's also so cold that sleeping bags are…
Fairchild Air Force Base supplies 80 percent of the military aircraft and flight crews operating out of Manas Transit Center, a key hub along one of the primary NATO supply routes into Afghanistan. The small base, located outside the Kyrgyzstan capital of Bishkek, is barely 400 miles from the Afghan border.