C-5 cargo planes grounded at Dover Air Force Base

The massive jets are in a stand-down after two separate incidents involving malfunctioning landing gear.

Over the past 60 days, there have been two incidents involving a malfunction of the C-5 nose landing gear. In response, Air Mobility Command commander Gen. Carlton Everhart directed the flying operations to stand-down.”Aircrew safety is always my top priority and is taken very seriously,” Everhart said. “We are taking the appropriate measures to diagnose the issue and implement a solution.

The C-5 is one of the largest aircraft in the world and is the biggest airlifter in the U.S. Air Force. The aircraft can carry a fully equipped combat-ready military unit to any point in the world. It can hold a maximum cargo of 135 tons.

There are 18 C-5 planes assigned to Dover, 12 of those are primary aircraft, the other six are backups. All of Dover’s C-5s are in stand-down while inspections are done to make sure the plane’s nose landing gear are properly extended and retracted during flight.

There are 56 C-5 planes in the Air Force fleet. The stand-down only impacts planes at Dover.

In April 2006, a C-5 plane crashed shortly after takeoff from Dover. The plane, which was en route to Germany, crashed about a mile from the runway. All 17 people on board survived, but three crew members were seriously injured. The accident investigation board determined the pilots and flight engineers were at fault for the crash.