IAF crash: All you need to know about C-130J Super Hercules

In a setback to the Air Force, a newly acquired US-made C-130J Super Hercules transport aircraft today crashed near Gwalior after taking off from Agra air base, killing five crew members, including four officers."One C-130J aircraft crashed 72 miles (115 km) west of Gwalior air base. The aircraft was airborne from Agra at 1000 hours for a routine flying training mission. A Court of Inquiry has been ordered to investigate into the cause of the accident," an IAF spokesperson said in New Delhi.[caption id="attachment_1455241" align="alignleft" width="380"] Representational image. AFP[/caption]Here is some more information on the military transport aircraft:* India had recently inducted six C-130J Super Hercules aircraft, which were bought from the US at the cost of around Rs 6000 crore (USD 1.1 billion) three years ago.* The per unit cost of the aircraft comes to around Rs 1,000 crore.* The aircraft can carry upto 20 tonnes of load and can land and take-off from short runways.* The aircraft can perform precision low-level flying and landing in blackout conditions.* Special features are included to ensure aircraft survivability in hostile air defence environment.* The aircraft was last reportedly used during the search operations for the missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370.* It was also used during rescue operations following the Uttarakhand floods last year.* The planes will be bracketed by India’s larger Ilyushin IL-76 jet transports on the high end, and on the lower end by twin-engine Antonov AN-32 turboprops, reports defenseindustrydaily.com.With agency inputs