On Feb. 18, 2012, a U.S. spy plane crashed six miles from Djibouti International Airport during “a routine flight.” As a consequence, all four U.S. military personnel on board, belonging to the 319th and 34th Special Operations Squadrons, and to the 25th Intelligence Squadron, both based at Hurlburt field, Fla., died.
via U.S. special operations plane crashes in Djibouti killing four crew members « The Aviationist.
Accidents happen. Especially in third world nations.
I’ll confess I had no idea the Air Force was operating the PC-12 (known to the Air Force as the U-28A). The article talks about the aircraft being used to transport Special Operations forces, but a quick glance at the picture shows that’s not very likely.
AF spec ops often means something quite different than it does in the Army. I doubt it was transporting blanket heads, or anyone similar. perhaps electronics or some other special gear.
I’m not surprised the AF would operate PC-12s. It’s a good AC for a single engine turboprop.