09/30/2004 - NEW CASTLE, Delaware. (AFPN) -- Many people from the Delaware Air National Guard

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09/30/2004 - NEW CASTLE, Delaware. (AFPN) -- Many
people from the Delaware Air National Guards
166th Airlift Wing here witnessed C-130 Hercules
aircraft dancing like ballerinas, as a tornado
struck here Sept. 28. Tuesday's tornado,
classified as an F2 or "strong " tornado by the
National Weather Service on a scale of F0 to F5,
was about 150 yards wide and packed winds of
about 130 mph. The winds of an F5 tornado can
reach 300 mph, according to the Fujita wind scale
used by meteorologists. The damaged C-130s had
been lined up about 50 feet apart from each
other. Although maintainers took all the
necessary precautions to protect the aircraft,
high winds tore them from their chains, said
Tech. Sgt. Ben Matwey, a wing public affairs
specialist. They were all thrown from their
spots, said Sergeant Matwey, adding that several
firefighters, security forces Airmen and flight
operations workers witnessed what happened next.
One of them was thrown on its side, on its wing,
and actually skimmed across the base on one wing
for over 100 to 150 yards and landed in a
ditch. Two other aircraft went flying up in the
air -- nose first, tail to the ground -- and were
dancing like ballerinas in the air, he said.
He said the driver of a security forces truck
had to duck down as a C-130 flew over him after
being picked up by the wind before crashing.
Another aircraft was left sitting atop another
with its tail on the front fuselage. Teams of
recovery specialists are currently assessing the
full extent of the damage.
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