By Tom Weber, KWMU
St. Louis, MO – It appears the C9 military airplane will keep flying at Scott Air Force Base. A Congressional committee on Thursday night approved a compromise budget for the nation's defense. In it is $12 million to keep some C9's active.
As first reported on KWMU, the President's budget originally cut all funding for the flying hospitals. Lt. Col. Bo Mahaney, a C9 pilot with the Reserve Officers' Association, says a lot of pilots would have been in limbo if the plane had left without a replacement plane in place.
"The same pilots that are flying the C9 will have a good shot of flying that follow-up in the decision is made to bring another airplane in there," he said. The money approved Thursday night would also help explore whether to bring in C-40's to replace the aging C-9's.
Area leaders were worried that losing the plane would jeopardize an important mission at Scott and possibly make the base a target during Congress's next round of base closures in 2005. The full House and Senate still need to approve the budget bill.