The plane that didn't crash
Published: March 23, 2009
CNN reported Monday afternoon that a C-17 had crashed in Olney, Texas, according to a spokesman at Sheppard Air Force Base.
Soon after, they reported that local police had received calls that a C-17 had gone down, but a spokesman at Sheppard Air Force Base could not confirm the crash.
Then CNN reported “initial Air Force reports of a crash were incorrect.”
Here’s what happened.
A woman had called 911 that morning and said she saw a commercial plane that had landed in a field and smoke was coming out of its tail, said Kim Bond, a dispatcher with the Olney Police Department.
Police called the Federal Aviation Administration and were told the only aircraft in the area was a C-17, but it was still flying, Bond said.
Still, local authorities immediately launched a search but found nothing, she said.
As it turns out, a C-17 out Altus Air Force Base, Okla., was flying very low over the area while on a training flight, Defense officials said.
BothU.S. Northern Commandand North American Aerospace Defense Command confirmed there was no crash, said NORTHCOM spokesman Mike Kucharek.
A CNN anchor dutifully went on the air to report that a C-17 had not crashed in Olney, Texas, as previously reported.
Then she segued into a story about an actual plane crash.
