[inferiorhuman]

They were "smart" enough to get out of the airliner business after the rather spectacular failure of the L-1011 and the whole wings falling off thing they went through with the Electra.

The military has a much higher tolerance for bullshit. The wings keep falling off the C-130 and the military keeps flying them (and the C-5).

[hypercube33]

I can't find a lot about c130 wings falling off. I found this which implies a known problem for c130a's wingbox which has a billion to retrofit with a new design - https://theaviationgeekclub.com/the-sad-story-of-tanker-130-...

Any more information?

[inferiorhuman]

Not much more information, but it's happened a few times.

https://www.iprr.org/comps/T82story.htm

https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/c130-crash-of-197...

https://www.defensedaily.com/hercules-crash-in-baghdad-point...

[dotnet00]

But the most recent incident you've cited is 18 years old. I'd hardly say "they keep falling off and they keep flying them" for that.

[inferiorhuman]

For context the Electra, Lockheed's penultimate airliner, lost its wings twice. After that airlines stopped buying it. Meanwhile the FAA put out another wing related AD for the C-130 in 2021.

https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/05/14/2021-10...