"As far as aircraft safety is concerned, although there is never a warranty, the C-123 is as safe as humanly possible."(BG Don Haugen, October 1979)
General
Haugen's reassurance came in 1979 one month after inspectors from Air Force Armstrong Labs reported residue on C-123K # 362
(Patches) of military
herbicides, including Agent Orange and Agent Blue, left from their Vietnam War
spray operations.
The general was told the airplanes were safe. The general told us the airplanes were safe. But the airplanes were not safe, and now the aircrews are blocked from exposure benefits we'd have received if USAF mistakes had been uncovered earlier. When the 1979 tests were done, no science existed to detect the deadly TCDD contaminant which was the real problem.
The general was told the airplanes were safe. The general told us the airplanes were safe. But the airplanes were not safe, and now the aircrews are blocked from exposure benefits we'd have received if USAF mistakes had been uncovered earlier. When the 1979 tests were done, no science existed to detect the deadly TCDD contaminant which was the real problem.
The 1979 test was ordered when aircrews
and maintenance staff submitted safety complaints addressing Patch's stench.
The scientists concluded that Patches should be scrubbed out with Dawn
detergent and air fresheners used to mask the stench. Of course, Dawn detergent did
nothing to help and neither did the many years crews spent trying to scrape out the residue.
Fifteen years later, USAF
Armstrong Labs again inspected Patches, determining her to be "heavily
contaminated with dioxin on all test surfaces, and "a danger to public
health." Patches received a $60,000 HAZMAT decontamination and its
toxicity was reduced to about 10% of the original contamination, judged safe
for "occasional entry."
Conclusion: without the decontamination,
Patches certainly wasn't "as safe as humanly possible" but instead remained a
source of our Agent Orange exposures. The 1994 $60,000 decontamination should have
been done BEFORE we started flying Patches, not fifteen years AFTER she was retired. (In 2012-2014 the VA spent $600,000 for its consultant to oppose C-123 claims at the IOM, more than enough to have decontaminated each of the aircraft at the very first!)
It wasn't until January 2015 that the Institute of Medicine determined that C-123 veterans had been exposed to harmful amounts of Agent Orange while flying Patches, and that veterans' benefits were appropriate. IOM concluded that the 2012 Air Force study of C-123 Agent Orange exposure were scientifically and mathematically flawed: the Air Force (incorrectly) reported the C-123s weren't hazardous and that veterans benefits would be inappropriate.
It wasn't until January 2015 that the Institute of Medicine determined that C-123 veterans had been exposed to harmful amounts of Agent Orange while flying Patches, and that veterans' benefits were appropriate. IOM concluded that the 2012 Air Force study of C-123 Agent Orange exposure were scientifically and mathematically flawed: the Air Force (incorrectly) reported the C-123s weren't hazardous and that veterans benefits would be inappropriate.
General Haugen was a wonderful man. I had the privilege of working for him for years, but even this general officer was misled by faulty science and an institution dedicated to denial of such problems.
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