Airmen share Lajes goodness after crew's emergency landing

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Angelique N. Smythe
  • 65th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
LAJES FIELD, Azores --  An AC-130 Gunship crew from Cannon AFB, N.M., heading to a deployed location was very grateful for Team Lajes' assistance and hospitality as they made an emergency landing here just before the Thanksgiving holiday.

The crew safely landed Nov. 22 after discovering a propeller malfunction. As they waited for a new propeller to be flown in from another country, they spent the Thanksgiving holiday here at Lajes Field.

"When he realized they were going to be here through Thanksgiving, Lt. Col. Shawn Cotton (65th Operations Support Squadron commander) and his family offered up their home for the holiday," said Maj. Robert Sweeney, 65th OSS director of operations.

One of the AC-130 maintainers said spending the holiday with the commander and his family was a great gesture.

"Colonel Cotton and his wife were gracious to invite us over to have Thanksgiving with them," Master Sgt. Jay Weaver from the 27th Operations Wing at Cannon AFB, said. "It felt like family."

This act of kindness was just one of the many examples of what most people here call sharing or experiencing the "Lajes goodness."

"Thanksgiving is all about gratitude and the blessings of being Americans," said Colonel Cotton. "Sharing that celebration with a few of our fellow American warriors is a memory my family and I will always hold dear."

The crewmembers also received assistance from some Portuguese local nationals.
"They needed a crane to conduct the maintenance but we didn't have one on base," Major Sweeney said. "So, Jackie Paulino, a local national here in the OSS, coordinated getting a crane from off base for the maintenance crew's use and they were able to work on changing the propeller."

Help also came from an aerospace ground equipment shop local national who served as a translator to the Portuguese crane driver.

On behalf of his crewmembers, Sergeant Weaver expressed his gratefulness to Team Lajes, the 65th OSS, Supply and Logistics for their exceptional support and for helping them to get back on the road.