KC-135 plane experiences mechanical issue, lands in IN

MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- Officials at Mitchell International Airport on Tuesday, June 18th said a KC-135 plane was experiencing a mechanical issue -- but was not set to land at the airport.

Instead, officials say the plane will be landing at Grissom Air Force Base in Indiana.

Officials with Milwaukee 128th Air Refueling Wing say the plane was on a refueling mission when it experienced a failure of the right side hydraulic system.

Officials say the crew was able to use the hydraulics on the left side of the pane, and never lost control of the aircraft.

The hydraulics control flaps on the plane, and the refueling receptacle on the plane.

Without the hydraulics on the right side of the plane, the crew had to manually extend the flaps when landing. However, without the hydraulics, the flaps do not extent all the way -- forcing the plane to land on a longer runway.

Thus, the decision was made to land the plane at Grissom Air Force Base.

Officials say no flights at Mitchell were affected as a result of this incident.