More than 15 percent of the approximately 2,350 Lockheed C-130 Hercules production hulls have been lost, including 70 by the US Air Force and the United States Marine Corps during the Vietnam War. Not all US C-130 losses have been crashes, 29 of those listed below were destroyed on the ground by enemy action or other non-flying accidents. From 1967 to 2005, the Royal Air Force (RAF) recorded an accident rate of about one Hercules loss per 250,000 flying hours. United States Air Force Hercules (A/B/E-models), as of 1989, had an overall attrition rate of 5 percent as compared to 1 to 2 percent for commercial airliners in the U.S., according to the NTSB, 10 percent for B-52 bombers, and 20 percent for fighters (F-4, F-111), trainers (T-37, T-38), and helicopters (H-3). This is thought to be a complete listing through July 1, 2012, but omits the JC-130A (53-3130, c/n 3002) test airframe that was tested to destruction and airframes retired or withdrawn from service. By the nature of the Hercules' worldwide service, the pattern of losses provides a barometer of global hotspots over the past fifty years.

Guide to Hercules construction numbers

The two prototype YC-130s, AF Serial Numbers 53-3396 and 53-3397, were built at the Burbank, California plant, and were given c/ns 1001 and 1002. Production Hercules have all been built at the Lockheed-Marietta, Georgia plant, and began their c/ns at 3001 (USAF 53-3129, still extant at the Air Force Armament Museum). The first prototype, c/n 1001, was disassembled at Warner Robins AFB in October 1960. The second prototype, c/n 1002, was salvaged at Indianapolis, Indiana in April 1962. (Lars Olausson, Lockheed Hercules Production List, 1954–2008, April 2007, page 2.) There have been a small number of c/ns assigned to airframes on order that were not built for various reasons. Also, C-130A model production ended at c/n 3231, and a new series for the B-model began at c/n 3501, the only time a large block was skipped for an upgraded airframe. Some 2,500 hulls have been built or are on order. USMC KC-130J BuNo 167111, c/n 5580, delivered December 2006 to VMGR-352, is the 2,300th Hercules. As of 2011, constructor numbers have been projected for anticipated orders through c/n 5800, with projected delivery in 2015 (Olausson, Production List, March 2011).

Hercules crashes by country of operator

Algeria

Angola

Argentina

Australia

Belgium

Bolivia

Brazil

Canada

Colombia

Chad

Chile

Ecuador

Egypt

Ethiopia

Greece

Honduras

India

Indonesia

Iran

Israel

Italy

Jordan

Kuwait

Libya

Malaysia

Mexico

Morocco

Niger

Nigeria

Norway

Pakistan

Peru

Philippines

Poland

Portugal

São Tomé and Príncipe

Saudi Arabia

South Africa

South Vietnam

Spain

Sudan

Switzerland

Taiwan

Turkey

United Arab Emirates

United Kingdom

United States

1950s

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

2020s

Venezuela

Yemen

Zaire

Zambia

Loss statistics

If the Vietnam War is proscribed by Hercules losses, it lasted 10 years and four days. The 817th Troop Carrier Squadron/6315th Operations Group crew of C-130A 57-0475, c/n 3182, a Blind Bat flareship, crashed into high ground at Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand, April 24, 1965 during a go-around in bad weather with a heavy load, combined with two lost engines, low fuel, making the unfortunate crew the first Hercules loss in Southeast Asia. The last U.S. military C-130 loss was the 314th Tactical Airlift Wing C-130E 72-1297, c/n 4519, hit by advancing NVA rocket fire on April 28, 1975, forcing Tan Son Nhut Air Base to be closed to fixed wing evacuation of the collapsing South Vietnamese capital of Saigon. Although three U.S. Navy Hercules were attrited during the period of the conflict in Southeast Asia, none were in theater, nor had anything to do with combat operations or support, therefore, they do not appear in Vietnam loss tables. One Navy-operated C-130 was lost in SEA but it was on loan from a USAF unit. Since Hercules attrition began in 1958, there have been three years in which only one hull was lost: 1959, 1963 and 1995. There have been several mid-air collisions involving Hercules, but all involved other military aircraft – there has never been a Hercules-civilian mid-air. There have been five cases of Hercules fratricide, four on the ground, July 1, 1965, April 11, 1968, February 1, 1979, and September 10, 1998, and one mid-air on March 29, 1985. Information about Hercules crash circumstances are most vague for the Sudan – four unidentified accidents, and Iran – three unidentified crashes, and one conjectural. In addition to Air America operations, Southern Air Transport was also a CIA proprietary company.