Nellis officer dies in Kuwait plane crash

Friday, Dec. 10, 1999 | 10:56 a.m.

SUN STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

KUWAIT -- A Nellis Air Force Base officer was one of three American military personnel killed when an Air Force plane carrying 96 people made an emergency landing without landing gear at Kuwait International Airport today.

Capt. Michael D. Geragosian, a member of the 66th Rescue Squadron, was killed in the C-130 accident that injured 16. He was a native of Washetenaw County, Mich., the Air Force said.

The U.S. Embassy in Kuwait confirmed the fatalities and said some of the injured soldiers have been treated in hospitals and released. The identification of the other victims was not immediately available.

The C-130 from the 61st Airlift Squadron at Jacksonville, Ark., was carrying troops to locations throughout Kuwait at the time of the incident, Air Force officials in Washington said.

The crew declared an in-flight emergency and diverted the plane to Kuwait's airport.

"Air Force and U.S. Embassy officials credit the Kuwaiti emergency response crew with greatly reducing the severity of the incident through rapid preparation of the runway for the landing," the officials said.

Master Sgt. Scott Martin, a spokesman for the Arkansas air base, said the Air Force was not yet able to confirm the extent of the injuries.

Kuwait civil aviation official Zuhair al-Zamel was quoted by the state-run Kuwait News Agency as saying that 96 people were aboard the aircraft and that its wheels had malfunctioned when pilots attempted to land.

Under a 10-year defense agreement that Kuwait signed with the United States at the end of the 1991 Persian Gulf War, several thousand American troops are stationed in Kuwait, ready to defend the small state from any Iraqi aggression. U.S. troops move freely in Kuwait on year-round maneuvers.

Martin said the C-130 is a safe airplane, with no accidents involving Little Rock planes since 1988.

"We fly thousands of hours a year in this airplane. It's absolutely safe," Martin said.