Here’s hoping survivors will be found!
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Such a shame. Those poor families so near to Christmas.
Oh no. 
Hope they make it.
Sad to hear. Also a stark reminder of how dangerous the job is. News story I just read say there were 5 on the C130, and 2 in the Hornet. 1 Marine has been rescued.
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At a loss for words. The Herc was from my old squadron. I dread the coming days as more info is released. While I have hope for the crew, I am also all to aware of the reality of this situation.
7 crew members missing, does that mean the F-18 crew did not eject? I wonder what happened.
If I read it correctly the Herc had a crew of five, and the Hornet had two pilots on board.
German media just reported that two of the seven people have been found alive.
I guess those are the two F-18 guys, since those have ejection seats.
Still hoping for the Herc crew.
Little bit more information but still not much in the way of details. Collision during refuelling exercise.
Would there be any chance that the C-130 crew members would be wearing parachutes? Regardless, my thoughts are with the families of the missing crew.
It’s a dangerous job, but it’s the thing they love doing best. 
Pretty much zero. If they had parachutes, they would be somewhere in the back. During catastrophic failure, you’re not going to have time to get them.
The latest I’ve heard is the second person recovered was the other Hornet crew member, and is deceased.
Typically they carry 5-6 parachutes, 5-6 exposure suits, and a kick out life raft in the cargo compartment. However, as Simfreak said, in a catastrophic situation such as this, the chances of them donning the suits and parachutes and getting out are very low.
Man that sucks. Not going to second guess and Monday morning QB the military, but I wish that it were different. During skydiving operations, everyone aboard a jump ship is required to wear a rig, which has saved quite a few lives.
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Yeah but you guys aren’t stuck in that thing for hours at a time. The surprise to me is how rarely this happens. The hose we nurse from in DCS is nice and stable. I’ve been told that in reality it can snake around a bit, especially with a combination of slack and PIO.
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…refueler mission - go to this area and hold until bingo or crew duty time (typically 16 hrs).
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Deceased Hornet crew member identified.
Generally speaking actually sticking the thing in the thing isn’t that dangerous. If anything gets screwed up during the process of taking fuel it might FOD the receiver’s motor(not the worst thing with two motors, EHEM F-35), knock off an AOA probe, mess up the canopy, etc. At worst it would involve executing a bingo profile to your divert airfield. It might not be a place you want to spend the night, but you’re going and it’s something you’ve thought about so it hopefully isn’t a major emergency.
I am not speculating on what happened in this incident, but from my experience the most dangerous part of tanking is the join itself. You’ve potentially got aircraft joining co-altitude at the same time, joins at night - sometimes with crews that are reluctant to turn up their lighting - or IMC joins due to clouds/weather. Combine all three and it’s amazing mishaps don’t happen more often.
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Honestly, with how close the engine intakes are located in modern jet fighters I would argue that the FOD danger for 1 vs 2 engine aircraft is mostly depended on intake shape and positioning and the refueling probe location.
Two engines located right next to eachother with one opting to rapidly disassemble can still cause significant damage to it’s brethren.
Then again, you are the refueling expert 
Still…
If I’m sitting alone in an aircraft over the ocean in pitch darkness, having to fine another airplane and transfer several hundred gallons of flammable liquid in close formation at 500 miles per hour, and then find and land on a dimly lit postage stamp in the middle of the ocean, all while possibly operating in hostile territory…I’ll take my chances with the second engine.
That being said, all the engines in the world won’t save you if you lose the elevator, which unfortunately the gas-taker has to fly right next to…
I’d rather have one modern engine then two old ones though. Trust me on that one.
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