C-17 Globemaster makes surprise visit to Wellington

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US plane surprises capital

3News NZ

The C-17 Globemaster was low on fuel and apparently, Wellington was the closest place to land

The C-17 Globemaster was low on fuel and apparently, Wellington was the closest place to land

By Lloyd Burr

A United States Air Force plane flying from Hawaii to Australia was forced to make a stopover in Wellington yesterday.

A spokesperson at the airport’s Air Force hanger says the C-17 encountered severe headwinds after it took off from Honolulu.

It meant the aircraft burnt more fuel on the route and needed a top-up.

Wellington was the closest place to land, the spokesperson says.

The four-engine jet plane, also called the Globemaster, spent around two hours on the ground before taking off for Australia.

The same type of plane also made a stopover in August as part of United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s visit to Rarotonga for the Pacific Leaders’ Forum.

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Comments

9/10/2012 5:06:14 a.m.

Mike wrote:

Well if they landed at Auckland, dotcrim would have claimed they were spying on him with the other 5000 conspiracies he has made up to justify his fighting extradition for breaking US laws.

Now if I was innocent and had a few hundred million frozen in US accounts till I went to court, I would be on the first plane to the US for a speedy court case to get the money unfrozen. All this delays from dotcrim suggest even he thinks he is 100% guilty!

Given the media campaign, how much have some in the media been paid by dotcrim? He has already shown he will basically bribe anyone for his purposes - and media aren't given the scrutiny of politicians.

4/10/2012 8:57:04 a.m.

Tim wrote:

There was a C17 at Whenuapai Airbase just last week... We will never ever be told of the movements of foreign military through NZ...

3/10/2012 7:09:06 p.m.

Wayne wrote:

The true reason for this visit is for the CIA/FBI to put more pressure on Key over the Dotcom court case. The USAF has it's own fuel supplies at Christchurch which are cheaper than fuel at Wellington.

3/10/2012 11:24:46 a.m.

thehawkreturns wrote:

Wellington is on a Great Circle path from Hawaii to Australia? Even with strong headwinds Auckland would be the first choice refuel point surely? Perhaps we should be told.