Bird strikes Dover aircraft

Reservists from the 712th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron repair a Team Dover C-17 Globemaster III at Charleston AFB, South Carolina, after it encountered an engine bird strike near Ft. Campbell, Kentucky, February 27, 2016. Dover reservists were at Charleston AFB as part of their annual training requirements away from home station. (U.S. Air Force photo courtesy Senior Master Sgt. Corey Diluzio)

Published Feb. 29, 2016
512th Public Affairs Office

Charleston Air Force Base, S.C. -- Reservists from the 712th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron repaired a Team Dover C-17 Globemaster III, here, after it encountered an engine bird strike near Ft. Campbell, Kentucky.

The plane landed at Joint Base Charleston, South Carolina, since Dover AFB's runway is closed for repairs. "We had a real challenge with this aircraft," said Maj. Steven Keenan, maintenance operations officer with the 712th AMXS. "Normally we would simply fly it back home for the repair, but due to the runway closure, we couldn't. Our next step would have been to fly a maintenance recovery team to Ft Campbell to fix the aircraft, an expensive proposition."

Leadership decided to fly the aircraft to JB Charleston and have it repaired since there were already 512th Airlift Wing reservists there, as part of their annual training requirements away from home station, according to Keenan.

"We were supremely confident that they could do it, and they came through again" said Keenan.