C-17 Globemaster crashes in Alaska

Whatever's going on in Anchorage, it played host to its third aircraft incident in just this one summer. A C-17 Globemaster military cargo plane crashed at Elmendorf Air Force Base with four people on board Wednesday. Air Force spokesperson Lt. Gen. Dana Atkins said that it was likely no one survived.

No one knows why the C-17 crashed, but the result created a plume of smoke 750 feet high, and seen for two miles in any direction. According to FOX News, this has been a rough year for air travel in Anchorage:

The crash is the third airplane incident in Anchorage this summer. In June, one child was killed and four others burned when a small plane crashed after taking off from the city's small-airplane airport in downtown Anchorage.

The C-17 Globemaster is the result of a competition between Boeing and McDonnell Douglas almost 30 years ago. The Boeing version lost to the Mc Donnell Douglas entry, even though it had a more innovative thrust system. (Now, McDonnell Douglas is Boeing.) The C-17 has a more conventional thrust system; here it is, and the plane, in action:



Stay tuned for more on this.