Late 1980: in a top-secret mission to rescue the American hostages in Iran, the US government modified a C-130 Hercules to be a "Super STOL" aircraft by adding 30 rockets to boost it on takeoff and slow it on landing. The plan was to land on a football pitch near the US embassy, but the project was scratched when the only fully-modified C-130 crashed during a test flight.
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00:00Hercules has been the workforce of the American military for over half a century.
00:05Originally designed as a troop, cargo, and medical transport,
00:09the Defense Department plans on adding one more job description.
00:13Rescue plane.
00:141980.
00:16In response to the 52 hostages taken in Iran,
00:19the U.S. government embarks on a top secret mission.
00:22Codename?
00:23Credible Sport.
00:27As the situation in Iran intensifies,
00:30engineers rush to transform the 80-ton C-130 into a nimble aircraft
00:36capable of landing inside of a 350-foot Iranian soccer stadium.
00:42As it's currently designed, the C-130 needs 1,400 feet of landing space
00:48and 1,800 feet to take off.
00:51In order to shorten the distance, engineers retrofit the plane with rockets.
00:58These rockets slow the plane as it lands
01:03and provide extra propulsion upon takeoff.
01:08It has only taken a few weeks for the C-130 to be redesigned and rebuilt.
01:16As the top secret mission approaches,
01:18pilots work diligently to master the complex, newly implemented features.
01:23But in October of 1980,
01:25just days before the surgical extraction is set to take place,
01:29Operation Credible Sport is derailed.
01:32In October of 1980,
01:34the U.S. Defense Department embarks on a top secret mission
01:37to rescue 52 American hostages being held in Iran.
01:44Daring rescue requires the team of engineers
01:47to transform the 80-ton C-130 airplane into a craft so agile
01:53it could land inside an Iranian soccer stadium.
01:59Within weeks, the Hercules is modified and ready to go.
02:13Just as the plane is making its final test run,
02:16the mission is dealt a fatal blow.
02:31As the plane comes in for a landing,
02:33pilots mistakenly fire the rockets before the wheels touch down.
02:38The plane loses lift and slams into the tarmac.
02:41Despite the violence of this mishap, no crew members were injured.
02:45This setback not only derails the project,
02:48but shatters the hopes of everyone involved in the Credible Sport mission.
02:52It was not until the next year that the hostages were finally released.