Look Up, it’s a Bird, it’s a Plane…

Crescent City is still buzzing over that low below 500 ft fly-by of the C130H Hercules aircraft, Wednesday afternoon.

Rogue Valley AirWatch reported the C130H, Call Sign Roller 47, out of the 152nd Air Lift Wing, Nevada Air National Guard, Reno was on a training exercise to practice touch and goes in Medford (MFR), en route to Coos Bay, then south toward Del Norte’s coastline.

Roller 47 was on a fire training mission, practicing low approach in retrieving fresh water in what may be a very hectic fire season on the horizon.

Roller 47 contains the Modular Airborne Fighting Fires System (MAFFS) equipment may include the orange Slurr retardant or up to 28,000 lbs of fresh water to quell destructive forest fire hot spots.

Firefighters expect more Smith River Complex fires, this fire season.

Wednesday’s 4pm low-level flight was a training mission and a good one, albeit unexpected to we locals.

The below 500 ft. threshold visit over Pebble Beach, Battery Point and South Beach surprised a whole bunch of folks…then suddenly lifted back up near Klamath and headed back home to the 152nd Base.

Special thanks and appreciation to Ryan Cooley, Border Coast Regional Airport Authority, fellow FaceBookers Joshua Wells, Angela Greenough, Rivers Drown and especially Cody Love, whose knowledge and experience were so helpful. Others provided pictures and eyewitness accounts in reporting this interesting story.

It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane… No, not Superman... but one big Hercules C130 plane.