The Georgia Air National Guard is debuting a brand-new plane and Channel 2 Investigative Reporter Mark Winne got an exclusive look at its first flight.
Winne learned how the new C-130J model is critical to the Georgia Air National Guard’s mission.
Major General Konata Crumbly said that without this plane, there is a “distinct possibility” that they could have been unable to continue doing airlifts in the future.
“You can only have old stuff so long,” Gen. Crumbly said.
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The plane rolled down the runway on Wednesday after rolling off the assembly line at Lockheed Martin across from the Georgia National Guard headquarters.
The new plane will help ensure that the 165th Airlift Wing will keep flying well into the future.
“You either modernize in this business or you become extinct, and we’re excited to modernize,” Major General Thomas Carden said.
Gen. Crumbly says the C-130J replaces the C-130H which has been flying since 1981.