Military cargo jet buzzes area, stirs buzz on social media
FRACKVILLE – With no major airport for at least 40 nautical miles, anything larger than a small jet flying low over northern Schuylkill is sure to turn heads, and even that might. What about one of the largest military cargo airplanes in service in the world?
At midday Sunday, social media was abuzz with posts asking about a low-flying cargo airplane flying over Frackville, Saint Clair, and Lavelle.
Photos circulated showing a large quad-engine cargo aircraft in clad in military grey flying over Frackville and the Coal Creek Commerce Center.
Publicly available flight data showed that it was a U.S. Air Force Lockheed C-5M Super Galaxy based out of the Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.
That data shows the jet flew from Dover to the Harrisburg area, where it performed several “touch-and-go” maneuvers — when a plane comes in for a landing and immediately takes back off — at the Harrisburg International Airport near Middletown.
It then flew northeast over Pine Grove, Forestville, turning southeast past Minersville and Pottsville, before turning north to follow Route 61 up to Frackville.
It made two passes over Frackville, turning each time, flying out towards Gordon and Taylorvile before turning back and retracing its steps to Pottsville.
These passes were between 2200 and 3000 feet above the ground.
The C-5M Super Galaxy is one of the largest airplane operated by any military in the world and is used for shuttling cargo and personnel.
As the plane was flying over, residents took to Facebook asking what was going on and asking what the airplane was. One resident said it sent their cats running for cover.
About Author
