- Staff report

Herald

Airplane on training mission

MOSES LAKE - A Boeing C-40 in government service with the U.S. Air Force landed at the Grant County International Airport Thursday.

The airplane, one of about six, is used to transport any government official lower than the U.S. president.

The plane was on a training mission from Scott Air Force Base in Illinois, when it stopped at the airport to refuel, said Larry Godden, owner of Air America Fuel and Service. It finished fueling and left at about 2 p.m.

"It was just a training flight," he said. "There was no government official on board."

Godden said he doesn't see this type of airplanes frequently, but it probably stopped here because of the services available at the airport.

Jason Haugen was going back to work at Advantage Industries at about 1 p.m., when he saw the plane, he said. He saw about six or seven people exit the plane and examine it.

"We're right on the runway," he said. "It was pretty cool."

The airplanes, which are a version of the Boeing 737, are built in Redmond, Wash.