Update: RAF Mildenhall KC-135 Stratotanker lands safely

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  • By Staff Reports
  • 100th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
RAF MILDENHALL, England --  A KC-135 Stratotanker with call sign QID 72 experienced an in-flight emergency at approximately 12:20 a.m. today. It safely returned to RAF Mildenhall at 1:20 a.m. There were no injuries.

The mission was scheduled to conduct a routine air refueling mission and taking off from Naval Air Station Souda Bay, Greece and landing at RAF Mildenhall. The flight crew and aircraft were under positive air traffic control authority for the duration of the mission.

The plane was approximately three hours into its filed flight plan and under the air traffic control of "London Control" at the time of the in-flight emergency declaration.  The crew coordinated for the appropriate routing to land at RAF Mildenhall. At no time did the controlling authorities query the crew about a loss of radar contact. The in-flight emergency was associated with a flight control-related malfunction; however, the crew and aircraft were never in jeopardy and they safely returned to home station.

Safety is paramount to the success of our mission. We continuously train to high standards and have established flight manual procedures in place to deal with emergencies of this nature. The Air Force's stringent safety standards help ensure the well-being of our people and the communities we interact with.
    
For more information, contact the 100th ARW Public Affairs office at 01638 545800 or email 100arw.pamr@us.af.mil.

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