C-130 down

Okay, it's hit BBC so I guess I can talk about it.

An RAF C130 went down south of here last night. We caught it on the UAV feed and were watching the entire time. They were on final approach to land at a tactical landing zone [read flat field] when they took fire and popped chaff – ‘not sure if it was the anti-aircraft fire or a problem with the chaff, the port wing ending up on fire. Luckily, they made it down and only two crewmen were injured, although the aircraft was a total loss.

The good thing about UAVs is that they have very long loiter times, meaning they can just hang around on station for as long as you need them. We watched the site all morning and saw the American rescue teams arrive and take away the crew, then the salvage teams started to strip the aircraft of any classified or valuable parts, and finally the EOD boys laid C4 over the fuselage and the one good wing. Then everyone stood back the whole thing just disappeared in a huge orange fireball.

Sorry, Haji - nothing left for you this time.