On Wednesday, 18 May 2011 a modified 1969 Boeing 707-321B military contractor tanker with 150,000 pounds of jet fuel aboard crashed on attempted takeoff from the US Navy's Point Mugu airfield, a few miles south of Oxnard, California. The plane, operated by Omega Air to provide fleet operations support, apparently did not get airborne; with a fire in one engine it veered off the runway and burned at 1725 hours. Jet fuel leaked into the Mugu lagoon and impacted about 10 acres of wetland. The huge black smoke plume could be seen for miles, and firefighters eventually let it burn itself out about four hours later after 2100 hours. Three civilians aboard, the pilot, copilot and flight engineer escaped with minor injuries.
The aircraft was launched to refuel military aircraft aboard the Point Mugu Sea Test Range which extends from the Pacific Ocean shoreline 185 miles to sea. As of this writing, the NTSB has not yet posted preliminary crash findings, nor the aircraft's N number.
Naval Base Ventura County's Fire Department located on the field responded, aided by County firefighters and the Ventura County Sheriff's airborne helicopter unit.
Omega operates two Boeing 707 tankers and a McDonnel Douglas DC-10 in support of Naval operations. The 707s are capable of flying up to 1,200+ hours per year on contract. Omega can carry from 156,000 to 160,000 pounds of fuel in their tanker-modified aircraft. Omega's aircraft are maintained by a subsidiaryy-SEVEN-Q-SEVEN. The planes are based out of SEVEN-Q-SEVEN's facility at San Antonio International Airport KSAT.