A flyover by U.S. Air Force aircraft salutes Erie Co. healthcare workers during Week 7 of lockdown

By: Hannah McDonald - May 4, 2020 5:49 pm

Coming from the west, two C-130H Hercules come into view over downtown Erie at 10:45 a.m. (Capital-Star photo by Hannah McDonald).

ERIE, Pa. — The skies over downtown Erie were filled Monday with the roar of two C-130H Hercules aircraft that soared over UPMC-Hamot.

Coming from the west, two C-130H Hercules come into view over downtown Erie at 10:45 a.m. on 5/4/20 (Capital-Star photo by Hannah McDonald).

The C-130H is an American military transport aircraft with four engines. The planes, part of the 910th Airlift Wing of the U.S. Air Force Reserve, based in Youngstown, Ohio, flew as a salute to frontline healthcare workers.

Approaching from the east, the aircraft came into view over Erie at 10:45 a.m.

The two C-130H Hercules aircraft turn to fly east to west past the shipbuilding yards in Erie’s bay (Capital-Star photo by Hannah McDonald).

The aircrafts’ wingspan is 132-feet. The vessels were originally designed as a troop, medevac and cargo aircraft.

The C-130 Hercules is an Air Force transport and cargo plane (Capital-Star photo by Hannah McDonald).

The planes flew over Erie in a planned tour of hospital flyovers in Cleveland, Akron and other Ohio locations.

In Erie, onlookers came to see the planes fly overhead from Dobbin’s Landing. The aircraft flew over the hospital before circling the ship yards at Erie’s port.

Correspondent Hannah McDonald covers Erie and northwestern Pennsylvania for the Capital-Star. Follow her on Twitter @HannahMcD0nald.

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