A US Air Force spy plane built in 1962 had to make an emergency landing in Qatar. It's the latest in a string of incidents for the ancient fleet of aircraft.

Taylor Rains
Updated Fri, September 15, 2023 


The Nebraska-based 55th Wing's fleet of RC-135 spy planes has one of the worst safety records in the Air Force.US Air Force.

A US Air Force spy plane flying for the 55th Wing made an emergency landing in Qatar on Monday.


The pilot said the aircraft experienced a flight control problem and returned to base.


It's the latest event surrounding the USAF's aging fleet, which regularly have maintenance issues.

A US military spy plane that's part of a fleet of aging aircraft from the 1960s had to make an emergency landing in Qatar this week after the crew reported an issue when flying near Bahrain.

It's the latest in a long string of incidents for the unit's Boeing-made RC-135 Rivet Joint planes. This one, with call sign OMAHA-77, is more than a half-century old. It was built in 1962. And the Air Force has had plans to keep the fleet for flying for 20 to 30 more years — which would make the oldest of the fleet more than 80 years old before it's retired.

Soaring at 26,000 feet, the quad-engine aircraft — which belongs to the Nebraska-based 55th Wing — was flying near a KC-135 Air Force tanker when the latest malfunction occurred, Air Force officials confirmed to the Omaha World-Herald on Tuesday.

"The crew promptly declared an in-flight emergency and followed standard operating procedures to ensure the safety of all on board," US Air Forces Central Command spokesman Col. Michael Andrews told the World-Herald in a statement.

The plane was squawking 7700 at the time — the international emergency signal.

The 55th Wing's RC-135 spy plane (No. 62-4138) that experienced an emergency landing in Qatar on Monday.Steve Lynes/Flickr

The aircraft and all 24 crew members eventually landed with no damage or injuries, and it was able to taxi and park under its own power, according to the World-Herald. The cause of the malfunction is now under investigation.

The US Air Force did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

The spy plane involved in Monday's event was originally built as a transport aircraft in 1962 before being transformed into a reconnaissance plane in 1967. It eventually joined the 55th Wing at Offutt Air Force Base outside of Omaha in 1981 and is still flying more than 40 years later.

The unit's particularly incident-prone fleet — which runs missions out of England, Greece, Japan, and Qatar — has had one of the worst safety records in the Air Force, according to an earlier World-Herald report, which combed through incident records.

The RC-135 is 110 times more likely to emergency land compared to an airliner

Despite the safety concerns, the US Air Force says the 55th Wing's aging fleet is a "safe and effective weapon system."Corbis via Getty Images

According to the 2018 investigation by the World-Herald, the 29-strong fleet experienced an average of more than 80 emergencies and aborted takeoffs per year. In extreme cases, the aircraft return to base too damaged to fly — forcing the wing to cut short some 500 missions between 2012 and 2018.

The World-Herald's 2018 investigation prompted Nebraska lawmakers to request information from the Air Force about how it intended to maintain the fleet, expressing concerns over the "continued mission effectiveness" of the 55th Wing.

Then-Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson responded to the letter defending the unit. She said the planes were "a safe and effective weapon system" and were able to fly 75.5% of the time between 2015 and 2018 — noting that rate is close to the Air Force's 76% standard.

"Based on historical safety reports and current safety trends, there is no increased risk to the safety of C-135 air crew," Wilson wrote.

Nevertheless, military personnel have voiced concern for the crews who work on the aging fleet, which have experienced everything from onboard fires, high-altitude depressurization, and a broken flight deck windshield.

Photos show the damage of a 55th Wing's RC-135 after it caught fire during flight in 2015.US Air Force

In fact, the RC-135 was 110 times more likely to experience an emergency landing compared to a commercial airliner, the World-Herald found at the time of its report.

"If my airline had that record, the FAA would have said, 'Stop flying and fix the problem,'" Frank Strickler, who is a former Air Force pilot, an air crash investigator, and a senior captain for American Airlines, told the World-Herald at the time.

Take, for instance, what happened on Monday.

According to the World-Herald, the plane was flying over the Persian Gulf north of Bahrain when the pilot asked air traffic control for "immediate direct Al Udeid, please," referring to the US' Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.

The flight path of the RC-135 tanker as it flew back to base.Courtesy of FlightRadar24

It appears the pilot was having trouble controlling the aircraft when the controller asked him to tighten the turn to keep out of restricted airspace, saying, "We're trying here."

When asked again, the pilot said, "No, unable anymore turn."



In the meantime, the refueling tanker — callsign PYTHON15 — was cruising at 28,000 feet and offered assistance if needed: "We just want to stay out of Omaha's way," the pilot said. "Anything we can do, if we need to help them."

It is unclear if the RC-135 was fully refueled or was in the process of being refueled by the KC-135 tanker at the time of the malfunction, the World-Herald reported. But, the crew reported having eight hours worth of fuel and needed to dump about 35,000 pounds of it before landing.

"We're going to need to reduce our gross weight," the pilot told ATC, according to audio from LiveATC.net that was posted on X, formerly Twitter. "We've got the aircraft under control at this time."

The Air Force stands behind its incident-prone fleet

The Air Force says it plans to make upgrades to its RC-135 fleet, expecting the planes to fly for another 20 to 30 years.Todd Feeback/Kansas City Star/Tribune News Service via Getty Images

Despite the recent event and years-long concerns about the old fleet, the 55th Wing has not lost an aircraft in an accident since 1997 and has planned to make upgrades that will keep the planes flying for another 20 to 30 years.

Former 55th Wing commander and current Air Force Safety Center head Maj. Gen. John Rauch described the fleet's maintenance and upkeep as "having your 1950s car rebuilt every five years," telling the World-Herald that the planes get "a lot of maintenance love."

"I have complete confidence in flying this aircraft," 55th Wing vice commander Col. David Berg told the World-Herald in 2018. "These (planes), from every angle, are meticulously maintained."