2010 United States Air Force Boeing C-17 crash
Boeing C-17 Globemaster III · Low-altitude stall due to pilot error
From Elmendorf Air Force Base (EDF) to Elmendorf Air Force Base (EDF)
Event
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- Event fatalities
- 4 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- 4
- Survivors
- 0
- InjuriesFatal: death within 30 days. Serious: over 48 hours in hospital within a week, most broken bones, severe bleeding, nerve or organ damage, or serious burns. Minor: anything less. Glossary
- Unknown
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- Military
Boeing C-17 Globemaster III
- Aircraft type
- Boeing C-17
- Category
- Airplane · from aircraft type
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- 00-0173
- Operator
- United States Air Force
- Onboard fatalities
- 4
- Route
- From Elmendorf Air Force Base (EDF)To Elmendorf Air Force Base (EDF)
Cause areas
- Personnel issues › Action/decision
- Aircraft › Aircraft oper/perf/capability
- Personnel issues › Task performance
From the investigation findings the Wikipedia article reports, sorted into the NTSB's cause areas with AI assistance.
Approximate · Coordinates from the Wikipedia article; not checked against an investigation report.
From the Wikipedia article
On 28 July 2010, a C-17 Globemaster III transport plane of the United States Air Force (USAF) crashed near Elmendorf Air Force Base in Alaska while practicing for a flight display at the upcoming Arctic Thunder Air Show. All four crew members on board were killed. It was the first, and to date only, accident of a C-17 aircraft resulting in one or more fatalities.
The subsequent investigation blamed pilot error for the low-altitude stall that led to the crash.
Accident
On 28 July 2010, a United States Air Force (USAF) crew was conducting a local training flight in preparation for the upcoming Arctic Thunder Air Show, to be held at Elmendorf Air Force Base (Elmendorf AFB) from 31 July to 1 August. The Boeing C-17 Globemaster III is commonly featured in American air shows, highlighting its short takeoff and landing capability. The plane had flown earlier that day with a different crew.
At approximately 6:22 p.m. Alaska Daylight Time (UTC-8), the C-17 took off from Runway 06 at Elmendorf AFB to practice the display routine. After the initial climb, followed by a left turn, the pilot executed a sharp right turn.
As the aircraft banked, the stall warning system activated to alert the crew of an impending stall. Instead of implementing stall recovery procedures, the pilot continued the turn and the aircraft entered a stall from which recovery was not possible. The plane crashed and exploded in a fireball about 2 mi from the airfield.
Investigation and cause
Investigation
The investigation report into the crash was released on 13 December 2010. It blamed pilot error, stating that the pilot's overconfidence in executing an aggressive right-turn maneuver led to a low-altitude stall and subsequent crash, despite the warnings correctly provided by the aircraft's stall-warning system, to which neither the pilot nor any other crew member responded effectively.
The accident displayed significant similarities with the 1994 crash of a B-52 bomber at Fairchild Air Force Base near Spokane, Washington.
On both occasions, the local USAF unit's chain of command apparently failed to prevent the pilots involved from developing deliberately unsafe flying practices for aerial displays of large aircraft.
Text from the Wikipedia article “2010 United States Air Force Boeing C-17 crash” (revision 1371192945, retrieved 2026-09-18) by its authors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted as plain text: references, tables, images and some sections are left out. Read the article
Sources
Wikipedia article: 2010 United States Air Force Boeing C-17 crash
- Revision
- 1371192945 · 2026-08-25 · retrieved 2026-09-18
- Wikidata
- Q4616571
- Licence
- Text CC BY-SA 4.0, by the article's authors; Wikidata CC0; town positions GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
Where each value comes from
- Record
- Wikipedia article "2010 United States Air Force Boeing C-17 crash" (page 28503948, revision 1371192945)
- Date
- Wikipedia infobox: date
- Place and country
- Wikipedia infobox: site
- Map position
- Wikipedia article coordinates
- Aircraft, operator and route
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft type, registration, operator, origin and destination; route airports from the linked airport articles' Wikidata codes (OurAirports)
- Operation
- operator named as an armed force or military unit in the infobox
- Fatalities
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft fatalities
- Ground fatalities
- not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
- Summary
- Wikipedia infobox: summary
Source notes (1)
- Wikipedia · Facts from the Wikipedia article's infobox and coordinates, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.