Any reports of a damaged C130 flying near Martinsville, VA yesterday?

[Beefcake]

Yesterday afternoon employees at our TV station watched as a C130 flew VERY low thru a valley just north of Martinsville here in Virginia. Now this kinda thing happens every so often but what made it interesting was that one of the starboard engines had alot of smoke coming out of it and you could hear the engine "stuttering". It looked like they were doing low level maneuvers and struck a tree or something. Anyway I was wonder if anyone had heard any reports of this?

Also not to long ago we had a Blackhawk fly low thru the area and snag some high voltage lines near one of our hydro dams. It didn't crash but it messed up the power for awhile.

[Maverick]

I would be interested in what sound this guy thinks was stuttering.

[Golfer]

You've never heard witness reports that a king air was backfiring?  Or just before impact the pilot switched gears?  What about the one where it looked like the pilot hit the brakes just before impact?

[cpxxx]

Now, now Golfer. Don't be so smart:p  Maybe the engine's spark plugs were dirty or the plane hit an air pocket?

Seriously though, Beefcake, from the sound of it, stuttering or not. It was probably an engine problem. No doubt the C130 RTB'd. The engine changed and note made in the unit's incident report and maintenance logs. A 'routine emergency', if you will. Happens all the time. One of those things.

[Chairboy]

Of note, since nobody else is saying it explicitly for you, it's unlikely that a C-130 engine would sputter, as it is a jet engine geared to a propeller.  No pistons to 'lug down' and backfire, no spark plugs,  etc etc.

[Hornet33]

Unless of course the "stuttering" noise was the engine tossing turbine blades. I know a guy who is a C-130 flight engineer who told me about loosing a prop off #4 while enroute to Kodiak Alaska. He said they felt a strange vibration and then all of a sudden the prop flew out in front of the plane and then just vanished from sight.

[boxboy28]

ya never know, my brother fly C130 is the reserves now, and when he's is route thru the area here in NC he will call before hand!   Its great to see a hugh old c130 drop down in the vally mountians and buzz the lake! Specially when it scares the SHeeat outta the locals or fisher men who dont expect it.

I live on Lake Adger in Western NC east side of the Blueridge mtns.

It truly is an awsome site to see.

[CavPuke]

Originally posted by Chairboy
Of note, since nobody else is saying it explicitly for you, it's unlikely that a C-130 engine would sputter, as it is a jet engine geared to a propeller.  No pistons to 'lug down' and backfire, no spark plugs,  etc etc.

Perhaps what the noise he heard was a compressor stall, a series of sharp bangs.

[Treize69]

Or one of his red-neck neighbors shooting at that big metal buzzard.