Defence

Miliary explosvies experts this week blasted a diabled Air Force C-130 Hercules into smaller pieces to remove the damaged cargo plane from a field northeast of the Baghdad International airport.

Explosives ordinance disposal troops from the 447th Expeditionary Civil Engineering Squadron based at Sather Air Base in Iraq between 7-9 July placed the explosives on the wings and later on the fuselage of the aircraft, using controlled detonations to divide the aircraft with into smaller sections for removal.

©USAF

Pilots brought the aircraft down into what the Air Force described as a "barren field" on 27 June after taking off from Sather, adjacent to the Baghdad airport. The Air Force, which continues to investigate the cause of the accident, says there was no indication of hostile fire and that no one was injured.